The Sarah T. Hughes Diversity Scholarship, which for more than 40 years funded select Dallas law school students’ education and whose distinguished alumni include Fifth Circuit Appeals Court Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, has been put on pause.
The Bar Foundation’s decision comes amid uncertainty brought on by the Trump Administration’s various executive orders affecting diversity initiatives across the country.
The foundation decided to pause awarding the scholarship this year amid the uncertainty and potential fundraising challenges, Dallas Bar Foundation Chair Gabe Vazquez said.
“The Dallas Bar Foundation has always been committed to supporting our legal community broadly through various scholarships, grants, clerkships and education programs,” Vazquez said. “The Sarah T. Hughes Scholarship was established by the Foundation to enable talented law students the opportunity to obtain a legal education in our community, and we plan to continue to support that mission in the future. We’re very grateful for the support of the Bar None cast and crew over many years in support of the Hughes scholars.”
The Hughes scholarship is named for the first woman state district judge in Texas who is best known for administering the oath of office to Lyndon B. Johnson aboard Air Force One following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The scholarship was established in 1981 with the goal of diversifying the local bar to better reflect the Dallas population.
The Dallas Bar Foundation originally awarded the scholarships to students at SMU Dedman School of Law. The Foundation expanded the scholarships in 2015 to include law students at the newer UNT Dallas College of Law and Texas A&M University School of Law.
Earlier this year, about the time students would normally be applying for the scholarship, the Bar Foundation pulled applications from the three schools whose students are eligible.
Soon after, on April 16, organizers of the variety show Bar None, which has raised about $2.6 million since its first show in 1986, informed participants in an email that the fundraiser will not take place this year.
Facing deadlines to put on the show, usually performed in June at the Greer Garson Theatre at SMU, the Bar Foundation leaders conveyed the message to “stand down,” show director Martha Hofmeister and producer Tom Mighell told The Texas Lawbook.
“We have been advised that there currently is no plan to award the Hughes scholarships in the immediate future, at least, and so there is no need for us to do this fundraising to support the scholarship,” Hofmeister said.
Mighell said they’d also learned that some previous scholarship donors expressed hesitation to donate this year due to President Trump’s executive orders.
The university systems that the two public law schools belong to were recently the targets of investigations.
The State Auditor’s Office reviewed 20 of the Texas A&M University System’s institutions for violations to the state’s ban on diversity equity and inclusion that took effect in January 2024. The audit, released in February, found only one system school, Texas A&M University-Central Texas, was out of compliance when it engaged with consultants on a five-year strategic plan that referenced DEI services in the contract.
The University of North Texas was one of 45 universities nationwide that drew a federal investigation in March into allegations the school engaged in “race-exclusionary practices” in its graduate programs. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in the same announcement said it was investigating six universities for allegations of awarding impermissible race-based scholarships and race-based segregation.
The A&M law school dean and spokespersons for SMU Dedman School of Law and UNT Dallas College of Law referred questions to the Bar Foundation.
The loss of the scholarship would have a devastating domino effect on the community, said Kandace Walter, president of the J.L. Turner Legal Association.
In the same manner that Hughes mentored trailblazing lawyers, including Louise Raggio and Adelfa Callejo, many of the scholarship recipients pass on their mentorship to one another, Walter said. A luncheon to present checks to the new class of Sarah T. Hughes diversity scholars each year draws an impressive crowd of scholarship alumni, Walter added.
The scholarship removes stress from students who otherwise might need to have a job on the side and allows them to totally focus on their studies, Walter said. And by infusing the legal community with people from underrepresented backgrounds, the scholarship helps diversify understanding and perspective in the local bar, she added.
“We’re very upset about the cancelation of Bar None and the uncertain future of the Sarah T. Hughes Diversity Scholarships because we all know how important diversity in the legal profession is for attorneys, for clients and for the community,” Walter said.
The disruption has elicited a strong emotional response from performers and fans, Hofmeister and Mighell said. For many, Bar None is a cherished summer volunteer effort, they added. But Hofmeister and Mighell said the frustration should not be directed toward the Bar Foundation or the law schools.
“I think it’s inappropriate to lash out at the foundation or the law schools because they’re responding to situations they didn’t create,” Hofmeister said.