How Are Gifts to the Reunion Used?
A gift to Michigan Law’s Black Alumni Reunion will provide assistance to the 2023 Reunion and future events in a number of ways, including:
- Complimentary event registration fees for current and prospective students
- Reduced registration fees for recent graduates and alumni working within the public and nonprofit sectors
- Subsidized travel costs for prospective Black students to attend Preview Weekend, which overlaps with the Black Alumni Reunion
- General programming, outreach, and scholarships that support current students
Fundraising also holistically supports the goals of the Black Alumni Reunion, which are:
- Re-engage Black alumni, both with the Law School and with one another
- Celebrate the legacy of the Michigan Law Black alumni community
- Recognize the importance of alumni-funded scholarships and lay the foundation for increased support for Black students
- Improve and support recruitment and matriculation of Black students through outreach and mentoring
Gifts and pledges made prior to March 6, 2023, will be recognized in onsite materials during the event and online; gifts made after March 6 will be recognized online. Please consider making a gift today. If you would like to make a gift by mail, please send a check addressed to the University of Michigan Law School, with Black Alumni Reunion written in the memo line, to this address:
University of Michigan Law School
4000 Jeffries Hall
701 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-3091
Every gift to the Black Alumni Reunion truly makes a difference. Thank you to all who have generously contributed to this meaningful event.
Support Scholarships
There are a number of different scholarships that support Black students at Michigan Law; expand the items below to learn more about each scholarship.
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African American Alumni Scholarship Fund
This fund provides scholarship support to students at the Law School.
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Alden J. “Butch” Carpenter Memorial Scholarship Fund
The Alden J. “Butch” Carpenter Memorial Scholarship is awarded each year to first-year Michigan Law students and members of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA), who exemplify its namesake’s ideals.
Alden J. “Butch” Carpenter entered the University of Michigan Law School in 1977, with the desire to become an advocate for the urban community by using his professional skills in business and law for its benefit and edification. Since February 21, 1978, the Black Law Students Alliance (now Black Law Students Association) has continued to promote Mr. Carpenter’s vision through the Alden J. “Butch” Carpenter Memorial Scholarship Fund. BLSA established the award “to promote the attributes exemplified by (Carpenter’s) life and to motivate the social commitment demonstrated by his professional objectives.”
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Gabriel Hargo Scholarship Fund for Michigan Law
This is a recruiting scholarship to address racial diversity in the graduate student population for African Americans admitted to the University of Michigan pursuing a law degree. This fund is managed by the University of Michigan Alumni Association as part of its LEAD Scholars program.
The Fund is named in honor of Gabriel Franklin Hargo, the first African American to graduate from the University of Michigan—and the first to graduate from the Law School—in 1870. He was only the second African American in the nation to earn a law degree.
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The HBCU Go Blue Law Scholarship Fund
Ronald Falls Jr., ’05, has established the HBCU Go Blue Law Scholarship Fund in honor of Rasheeda N. Creighton, ’02. The legacy of this scholarship will be to provide both access and resources to support a student who has gained admission to the University of Michigan Law School after attending a historically Black college or university. Falls received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Morehouse College in 2000 and his JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 2005. Falls established the scholarship fund in celebration of his 15th Law School Reunion and in honor of his college friend, Rasheeda N. Creighton, who graduated from Spelman College in 1999 and the University of Michigan Law School in 2002.
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The Oscar W. Baker Sr. Scholarship Fund
The Oscar W. Baker Sr. Scholarship Fund is named in honor of Oscar William Baker Sr., who graduated from Michigan Law in 1902. Following his graduation, Baker returned to Bay City, Michigan, his hometown, and became the first Black person to become the president of a county bar association in Michigan. He also opened his own highly successful law firm and served as president of the Michigan Freedmen’s Progress Commission in 1915, the 50th year of commemoration of freedmen’s progress since the Emancipation Proclamation of 1865. Four generations have followed in Baker’s footsteps as Michigan Law graduates. The scholarship was generously funded by David Baker Lewis, ’70, and his family in order to commemorate the legacy of Oscar W. Baker Sr., through support of African American students attending the Law School.