Touro Law Announces New Veterans Scholarship Fund
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Touro Law Announces New Veterans Scholarship Fund
June 11, 2015Touro Law Center Dean Patricia Salkin is pleased to announce the newly created Judge Sol Wachtler Veterans Scholarship at Touro Law Center, funded by the Judy and Fred Wilpon Family Foundation Inc. The endowed scholarship fund will be awarded annually to students who are U.S. military veterans and meets specific academic and financial criteria.
“The Touro Law community is grateful to the Judy and Fred Wilpon Family Foundation for their generosity,” said Dean Salkin. “This scholarship is a fitting way to honor Judge Wachtler and provide financial support for students who come to Touro Law after serving our country. Student scholarships provide access to legal education and represent a commitment to the future of the legal profession and the delivery of legal services.”
The Judy and Fred Wilpon Family Foundation gives generously to many causes, including several scholarship funds and veterans groups. The Judge Sol Wachtler Veterans Scholarship Fund at Touro Law Center is the first law school scholarship funded by the foundation. The scholarship fund is a forum to honor veterans, a cause close to the hearts of both the Wilpon family and Judge Wachtler, himself a U.S. Army veteran who has long been active in supporting veterans’ access to legal and mental health services. Judge Wachtler is the former Chief Judge of New York State.
Touro Law is one of only a few law schools nationally to host a Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Rights Clinic. The clinic, headed by Associate Dean Kenneth Rosenblum, a former U.S. Army JAG officer and Vietnam veteran, honors the sacrifices of the men and women who have worn the uniforms of our nation’s armed forces. The services the clinic provides are particularly needed in Suffolk County, which has one of the largest concentrations of veterans anywhere in the country, and is the site of a major VA Hospital, the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Students, working under the supervision of experienced attorney-professors, provide free legal assistance to veterans and their families, visit veterans homeless shelters, participate in stand-downs, and present programs advising veterans on their legal rights. The clinic gives priority to matters that will prevent or relieve homelessness or remove barriers to reintegration of veterans into the community.
Clinic Director Kenneth Rosenblum stated, “We could not be more delighted with the generosity of the Wilpon family and that the scholarship will be named in honor of Judge Wachtler. Veterans’ courage, dedication, selflessness and leadership skills make them ideal law students and future bar leaders. Both veterans and the larger community will reap the benefits of this gift for years to come.”
This new gift adds to more than $1.5M in new student scholarships Touro Law has raised this past year. Touro Law offers scholarships and fellowships to both incoming and current students. For a complete listing of named scholarship support, visit http://tourolaw.edu/Admissions/scholarships.
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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art law school is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 650 and an alumni base of more than 6,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.
Touro Law’s newly implemented Portals to Practice is a cutting-edge, experiential learning program that reconceives and restructures the law school experience. Portals to Practice expands the scope and quality of legal education by focusing on the development of legal professionals, from pre-law through post-graduation.
About the Touro College and University System
Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris and Florida. New York Medical College, Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/.
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062