The initiative now known as the Ulu Lehua Scholars Program was established in 1974, the year after the School's founding. This program selects students from legally underserved communities who have overcome adversity and demonstrated academic potential, leadership ability, and commitment to social justice and provides an opportunity for them to obtain a legal education. Ulu Lehua Scholars are fully matriculated into the J.D. Program, but they also benefit from participation in a small, supportive learning community within the Law School, and from course load flexibility during their first year.
In their first semester, Ulu Lehua Scholars, like all first year (1L) law students, take Contracts, Civil Procedure, and Legal Practice. In place of Criminal Justice, which they take in their second year, however, Ulu Lehua 1Ls participate in the Ulu Lehua Seminar. In addition to providing participants with structured and individualized instruction in legal reasoning, legal writing, law school study techniques, and other foundational legal skills, this seminar introduces Lehua students to critical legal theory and to other interdisciplinary perspectives on the relationship between law and social change. Ulu Lehua 1Ls and first semester 2Ls also benefit from a structured program of tutoring in civil procedure, contracts, torts, real property, and constitutional law, led by upper division Lehua students who excelled in those courses. Ulu Lehua Scholars participate fully in the life of the Law School, assuming leadership roles in such organizations as the Hawai'i Law Review, the 'Ahahui o Hawai'i, the Asian- Pacific Law and Policy Journal, and the Law School's award-winning moot court teams. Upon graduation, they become part of a large and influential Lehua alumni community, which includes many current judges, government leaders, social justice advocates, business administrators, and prominent attorneys.
The Ulu Lehua Program extends the mission of its predecessor, the Pre-Admissions Program, founded to address the under representation of disadvantaged communities.
It seeks candidates who will contribute to fulfilling the goals of the Program, including: (1) Addressing the legal and related needs of communities underserved by the legal profession in Hawai'i and the South Pacific; (2) Representing communities that are presently under-represented in the Law School and the Hawai'i Bar; (3) Serving as role models for and mentors to others who are striving to overcome adversity and to reach their full potential as community leaders in Hawai‘i and the South Pacific; and (4) Bringing distinctive viewpoints and life experiences to the Law School community, enriching the understanding of all who work and study here.
For more information, please contact Professor Linda H. Krieger, Director of the Ulu Lehua Scholars Program, at lkrieger@hawaii.edu
