The Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County
Wallace (Wally) R. Davis Memorial Scholarship Fund
“Education is the key that opens up hidden treasures within”
Did you know that Latinos constitute almost 50% of California’s population, yet less than 4% of California’s attorneys are Latino? To bridge this gap, the HBA Annual Installation Dinner and Scholarship Fundraiser raises funds for the Wallace (Wally) R. Davis Memorial Scholarship Fund.
The Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance to Orange County Latino students who are presently attending law school and who have demonstrated involvement in the Latino Community. The Scholarship Fund was named in honor of Wallace (Wally) R. Davis, one of the first Hispanic attorneys in Orange County. He rose to the highest ranks in the legal profession, co-founding the HBA and championing the struggles of the Latino community. By assisting young Latino law students, this scholarship is awarded to those who would follow in his footsteps.
1995
Nadia Davis, Loyola Marymount School of Law
1996
Jacobeth Castillo, University of San Francisco, School of Law
Carla Vanessa Gomez, University of San Francisco, School of Law
Julie Rivera-Coo, Western State Law School
1997
Maria Mendoza, McGeorge School of Law
Mario Rivas, Western State Law School
Nancy Rojas, Whittier Law School
1998
Delia M. Metoyer, Whittier Law School
José A. Hernandez, Whittier Law School
Christina M. Valadez, Univeristy of California,
Hastings College of the Law
1999
Israel Hernandez Claustro, Western State Law School
Ed Garcia, Whittier Law School
Yolanda Silvia Pedrego, Western State Law School
2000
Isabel Birrueta, University of Southern California Law School
Robert Castro, UCLA School of Law
Cecilia Oseguera, Whittier Law School
2001
Norma Garcia, University of Southern California Law School
Nereyda Higuera, Whittier Law School
Edwin Najera, Western State Law School
Cecilia Oseguera, Whittier Law School
2002
Juanita Marison Barrientes
Jacqueline Guzman, University of California,
Hastings College of the Law
2003
Michelle Dalton, Chapman University School of Law
Linda Luna, Chapman University School of Law
Debbi Torrez, University of California at Davis Law School
2004
Amina Diaz, Whittier Law School
Mario Zapata, Chapman University School of Law
2005
Araceli Gonzalez, Brigham Young University Law School
Alfonso del Valle, Whittier Law School
Mayte Santacruz, University of California, Berkeley
School of Law (Boalt Hall)
2006
Keila Carrasco, University of California, Hastings College of Law
Erica Diaz, Chapman University School of Law
Marcella Dominguez, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Araceli Gonzalez, Brigham Young University Law School
Mayte Santacruz, University of California, Berkeley
School of Law (Boalt Hall)
Wally Davis Scholarship Fund
This fund is sponsored by the Hispanic Bar Association and awards scholarships to Orange County Latino law students. The Fund was named in memory of Wally Davis, one of the first Latino attorneys in Orange County who fought for the civil rights of all Latinos.
Eligible students must be of Latino origin and involved in the Latino community. Priority will be given to students with significant ties to Orange County.
Scholarship Awards
- Three $6,000 general law school tuition scholarships
- One $5,000 Chapman Law School tuition scholarship
- One $2,000 Bar Review Scholarship
For more information e-mail: LisaDRamirez@sbcglobal.net
DEADLINE: July 15, 2008
If you wish to donate to the HBA Wally Davis Scholarship Fund, please send a check payable to:
OCCF/HBA
And remit payment to the HBA at
P.O. Box 17777, Irvine, CA 92623
For more information e-mail: LisaDRamirez@sbcglobal.net
Wally Davis Scholar: Mayte Santacruz Benavidez
Dear HBA/HEEF Wally Davis Scholarship Committee, Colleagues and Friends of
Mayte Santacruz Benavidez,
I forward eight Mayte Santacruz Benavidez photographs that I took at the UC Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall, Commencement on Saturday, May 17, 2008 at the UCB Greek Theatre.
Mayte Santacruz Benavidez represents the ideal of what the HBA envisioned when it established the Wally Davis Memorial Scholarship Fund. Her unrelenting pursuit of excellence, beginning in middle school, through
Century HS and Santa Ana College, where she achieved an A average, and UCI, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, and now, a Juris Doctor, would seem to be enough jewels for her tiara; but no--at Commencement she received the Anthony F. Dragonette Award in Civil Trial Practice (the only recipient among the 300 J.D.'s) and later this year will have an article published in the UCB Boalt Hall California Law Review! She is only the third Latina to have an article published in the review in over 30 years! As many of you will also recall, she was selected to serve as the Senior Executive Editor for the Law Review in 2007-08.
Boalt Hall is the past and the trail that she blazed is a flicker. The HBA Scholarship Committee burns brightly in her memory. Your belief in her and your financial support made the difference; your mentorship forged her.
Her family and peers have been her bedrock, and those of us at SAUSD, Santa Ana College, and at the UCI Center for Educational Partnerships saw Mayte streak across our horizons. We thought it was a Comet; indeed, she was a Super Nova. Collectively, we formed the background of the sky against which we could view her. Mayte, we salute and honor your achievement.
Today, Wednesday, May 21, 2008, she is in her third day of preparation for the CA Bar Examination in July. In classic Mayte culture, all that exists is this preparatory period for the Bar. Saturday's orchids have been mummified by the heat wave in the Bay Area; she can't hear the cheers that reverberated throughout the Greek Theatre. Her quest begins anew- a perfect score on the Bar!
We congratulate her! We bless her! We look forward to the day when she shall join the HBA/HEEF Wally Davis Scholarship Committee as an Attorney and extend her hand to guide a future generation of young Latino J.D.'s from the Santa Ana USD, Santa Ana College and UCI!
-Juan Francisco Lara
