The Justice Center’s Equal Justice Scholarship covers full tuition for an outstanding entering student who commits to working after graduation for three years providing legal services to the underserved. Admitted students apply in the spring before they matriculate, and the scholar is selected through a competitive application process that includes an interview with a faculty committee.
Kelsey Chapple, the ninth Equal Justice Scholar, focused on reproductive justice and civil rights as a student. While at Texas Law she participated in the Civil Rights Clinic and Domestic Violence Clinic, served as president of the Texas Law chapter of Law Students for Reproductive Justice, and helped organize the inaugural Getting Radical in the South (GRITS), a student-led civil rights conference. She is a Chancellor (one of the 16 students in her class with the highest grade-point-averages) and served as research editor for the Texas Law Review. During the summers, she worked in Washington, D.C., with Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American Civil Liberties Union. “My time at Texas Law has been one of the best of my life. The law school has been a place of incredible support and intellectual stimulation that I’ll take with me forever,” Kelsey reports.
After graduating in May, Kelsey heads to two clerkships — with Chief Judge Theodore McKee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in fall 2016, and with Judge Randolph Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in fall 2017. After her clerkships, Kelsey plans to pursue a fellowship working as a litigator for a nonprofit organization that promotes the rights of the poor.
“We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Kelsey and watching her very impressive progress during her time at Texas Law,” said Eden Harrington, director of the Justice Center. “She has already accomplished a great deal, and we salute her commitment to both academics and public service. She will be an outstanding attorney and we are proud to have helped her launch her legal career.”