Alena Suazo Memorial Scholarship

Scholarship Criteria & Instructions:
This scholarship is awarded to a law student committed to social justice work. Please provide a personal statement, no longer than 3 double-spaced pages, describing your reasons for attending law school and experiences working with marginalized communities and/or fighting injustice and oppression.

Scholarship Description:
Alena Suazo fought for the voiceless, the oppressed, and the disenfranchised, and she did it with grace, humor, determination, and an unrelenting spirit. She lived each day to the fullest, and gave her entire self to the causes and people she cared about.

Alena graduated from University of Washington School of Law (UWLS) in June 2010. In addition to the amazing things Alena accomplished at UWLS on a daily basis, while there she was the Co-President of the Latina/o Law Student Association, Vice President of the Minority Law Student Association, and served in the Tribal Defense Clinic for two years. Following graduation, Alena received the Bonderman Fellowship, an award given to graduates of UW to undertake new experiences through travel. Just a few months into her world tour, she passed away in Guatemala. Alena hoped to become a public defender in Southern California and to fight against the racial and economic disparities in the criminal justice system and throughout American society.

The Alena Suazo Memorial Scholarship has been created in her name to go towards the hidden costs of law school. Alena felt that direct and collateral costs associated with attending law school impeded Latinas/os from entering into the legal profession.

The Application can be found on Symplicity. The deadline is January 13, 2012.