First Fred D. Gray Scholarships for law, justice and society recipients announced
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Lipscomb University has announced the first recipients of its newly established Fred D. Gray Scholarship.
Christian Monyei, Morgan Murphy, Katherine Climaco, Paulina Martinez and Abena Tawiah have been named the inaugural Fred D. Gray Scholars. Recipients are initially awarded the scholarship their junior year and may qualify to renew the scholarship for their senior year.
"One of our goals as an institute is to help encourage and create the next generation of Fred Grays. These students have the passion, creativity, empathy and determination to follow in Mr. Gray's footsteps,” said Randy Spivey, academic director for Lipscomb University’s Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice and Society.
“Dr. Gray is an inspiration to our students, and he is a living example of the impact one person can have. He has been instrumental in shaping the work we do here in the institute, and we are honored to be able to carry on his body of work in a significant and lasting way by encouraging future generations of young people to follow his path.”
Gray, a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement, began his legal career as a sole practitioner and less than a year out of law school at age 24, he represented Rosa Parks after she refused to give up her seat on a city bus, which began the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Gray was also Martin Luther King Jr.’s first civil rights lawyer, represented the Freedom Riders and filed the lawsuits that desegregated Alabama schools.
“Each of these scholars wants to be able to help others and each of their applications reminded me of why I became a lawyer. I wish them all well,” said Gray.
Christian Monyei, a senior from Lanham, Maryland, said being among the first recipients of the scholarship is very meaningful.
“The scholarship has honestly been a huge deal for me because not many people can say their words resonated with the lawyer who represented Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King,” said Monyei. “I was handpicked with four of my peers to be recipients of the first Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice & Society Scholarship ever. I am highly appreciative of this opportunity and I will forever keep Fred D. Gray's dream of equality alive as long as I am breathing. His efforts and accomplishments will not be in vein.”
Monyei said he plans to enter law school following graduation and to one day open a law firm focusing on those who “have faced all forms of discrimination in addition to having their civil rights taken away from them or censured.” He said that immediately after law school he wants to join a firm as a defense trial attorney or to become a federal prosecutor before launching his own firm.
Morgan Murphy, a senior from Memphis, Tennessee, said it is an honor to receive a scholarship named for Gray.
“Receiving this scholarship is such an honor,” said Murphy, who plans to attend law school after graduation. “Dr. Gray has done incredible work, and after learning about him in some of my classes and beginning to understand the impact he has had in such an important field of work, being given a scholarship that he is so involved in is an incredible honor.”
A junior from Franklin, Tennessee, Paulina Martinez plans to attend Yale University law school and purse a career with the FBI as a hostage negotiator.
“Winning this scholarship is an opportunity to keep on pursuing my dreams, and to be able to accomplish them as well,” she said.
A native of El Salvador, Katherine Climaco, wants to follow in Gray’s footsteps by pursuing a career as a civil rights attorney.
“I am honored to receive a scholarship from an inspiring attorney like Fred D. Gray. It is a privilege that we have someone who has already given so much to our community continuing to give back,” said Climaco, a junior who moved to the Nashville area as a child. “As a DACA recipient I do not qualify for any federal financial aid and this scholarship is immensely helpful. My family and I are very grateful, and I personally intend on using my degree to give back to the community. I have come this far because people have believed in me and have awarded me scholarships like this one and have financially supported me and I plan on doing the same to others.”
Abena Tawiah, who will graduate in December, is a native of Accra, Ghana, West Africa. 
She said this scholarship will help make her childhood dreams become a reality.
“For me, this scholarship is a testament to the fact that even a little girl, dreaming about one day flying in a plane for the first time, can grow up and fight for a future,” said Tawiah, who is majoring in law, justice and society with an emphasis in conflict management. “I don’t want to change the world; I simply want to create a small space underneath the feet of those before me. Dr. Gray and Professor Spivey have given me the tools to do so, and for that I express my sincerest gratitude.”
After graduation, Tawiah plans on beginning her career as a paralegal or legal assistant to gain experience in the legal field. Then in the fall of next year, she plans on attending law school to pursue “a career that allows for growth and recognizes the importance of putting the client as a person first."
The Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice & Society at Lipscomb University recognizes Gray’s stated lifelong commitment to “eradicate racism” through the law, beginning with his work at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Launched in spring 2007, the institute, now housed in Lipscomb’s College of Leadership & Public Service, is based on the principle that legal change is one of the surest means to effect social change. Students are encouraged to consider America’s legal system from a multidisciplinary perspective to get a fuller understanding of its mechanisms, practice and consequences.
Want to know more? Visit ljs.lipscomb.edu.