Bill Whitehurst ’70, and his wife, Stephanie, recently announced that they will give the University of Texas School of Law $125,000 over the next five years to fund the Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellowships program. The Law School’s William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law will administer the program.
Each summer, the Whitehursts will name the fellowships for lawyers they admire in hopes that the recipients will be inspired by the honorees’ work in the public interest. In the program’s inaugural summer, the Whitehursts have named the fellowships in honor of lawyers Chip Brees, Michelle Cheng, Tom Harkness, Eden Harrington, Mack Kidd, and Scott Ozmun.
“Bill and Stephanie Whitehurst are to public interest at UT Law what the North Star once was to mariners at sea: one part inspiration and one part compass,” said Law School Dean Larry Sager. “We have long tried to live up to their high expectations of us. This wonderful gift will bring us closer to meeting those expectations. We are very grateful.”
The following six students have received funding from the Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellowships program this summer:
Kristian Aguilar, ’12, received the Chip Brees Public Interest Law Fellowship to work with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund in San Antonio.
Robert Brothers, ’11, received the Michelle Cheng Public Interest Law Fellowship to work with American Gateways in Austin.
Jessica Cohen, ’11, received the Eden Harrington Public Interest Law Fellowship to work with the ACLU of Texas in Austin.
Silvia Garcia, ’11, received the Tom Harkness Public Interest Law Fellowship to work with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid in San Antonio.
Olga Goldberg, ’12, received the Mack Kidd Public Interest Law Fellowship to work with Opportunity Maine in Portland, Maine.
George Vallas, ’11, received the Scott Ozmun Public Interest Law Fellowship to work with the Legal Aid Society’s Bronx County Criminal Practice Office in the Bronx, New York.
The Whitehursts have a long history of service to the Law School and University of Texas at Austin. Bill Whitehurst, of Whitehurst, Harkness, Brees & Cheng PC, is past president of the State Bar of Texas and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. He is the attorney advisor to UT Law’s Texas Law Fellowships program, co-chair of the advisory council of the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, and a member of the Campaign Leadership Council. Stephanie Whitehurst, a committed community volunteer and leader, has served as capital campaign chair for the University of Texas College of Pharmacy Financial Aid Committee and as an advisory board member for the Texas Center for Education Policy.
Contact:
Eden Harrington, William Wayne Justice Center, 512-232-7068 or eharrington@law.utexas.edu