The initiative now known as The Ulu Lehua Scholars Program was established by the William S. Richardson School of Law in 1974, shortly after the School’s founding.  The Program provides selected students from legally underserved communities who have overcome adversity and demonstrated their academic potential, leadership ability, and commitment to social justice with an opportunity to obtain a legal education.  Ulu Lehua Scholars are fully matriculated into the J.D. Program, but also benefit from participation in a small, supportive learning community within the Law School, and course load flexibility in their first year.

In their first semester, Ulu Lehua Scholars, like all first year (1L) law students, take Contracts, Civil Procedure, and Legal Practice.  However, in place of criminal justice, which they take in their second year, first semester 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, the 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 2L’s 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, often assuming leadership roles in such organizations as the Hawaii Law Review, the Ahahui o Hawaii, the Asian Pacific Law Journal, and the 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 in the Law School population and the Bar. 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 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.