University of Hawai'i University Relations Media & Publications Honolulu, HI 96822	(808) 956-8856 Telephone (808) 956-3441 Facsimile ur@hawaii.edu E-Mail
For Immediate Release:	February 23, 1998
Contact: Carol Mon Lee, Associate Dean, William S. Richardson School of Law, 956-8636

Law Professor Judy Weightman honored by American Bar Association Student Division Judy Weightman, a professor at the UH William S. Richardson School of Law, has received the Dean Henry Ramsey Jr. Award from the Law Student Division of the American Bar Association. The award "is given annually in recognition of activities that contribute to the achievement of the American Bar Association's goal of promoting the full and equal participataion of minorities and women within the legal profession," according to the February issue of Student Lawyer magazine. The magazine includes a profile of Weightman, headlined "Law Professor Redefines 'Unselfishness' in Pursuit of Diversity."   Weightman has headed the UH law school's Pre-Admissions Program for ten years. The program helps students whose academic records or LSAT scores do not meet law school admission standards gain the skills, knowledge and other resources they need to get into law school and succeed there. In addition to academic support for promising but under-prepared students, Weightman has been involved in every aspect of the Pre-Admissions Program-counseling, financial aid, job placement, community awareness and student retention.   Weightman is well-known in Hawai'i-both as a lawyer and as a filmmaker-for her work on human-rights issues. She founded the Hawai'i Holocaust Project as well as the Afro-American Lawyers Association. She has co-chaired the Hawai'i State Bar Association's Goal Group to Increase Meaningful Participation of Underrepresented Groups in the Legal Profession and the Judiciary. In 1992, she helped to start the Minority Bar Pass Program.   The Dean Henry Ramsey Jr. Award is named after the former dean of Howard University School of Law.

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