An increase in donor generosity is helping more students at Georgia State Law get the most out of their education. This year, 183 students are scholarship recipients, the greatest number the college has ever seen.
The creation of eight new scholarships this year contributed to that increase. At the College of Law’s 12th annual Scholarship Donor and Recipient Recognition Luncheon on January 30th, those students had an opportunity to thank their donors.
“While I was excited about my decision to attend Georgia State at the time I was offered this amazing scholarship, I am even more content with my decision to attend now,” said Jessica Batey (J.D. ’22)
Batey is a recipient of the Ronald Freeman Opportunity Scholarship. What she didn’t know at the time she accepted her scholarship was the sense of community she would experience at Georgia State. She says it’s the support system she needs to help her prepare for the challenges ahead.
“We’ve all worked really hard to achieve everything we’ve achieved so far, but success is rarely an individual event,” said Batey. “To sit here with the support and encouragement the scholarship program provides, is the greatest showing of community I could ask for.”
Ronald Freeman says he became a donor to give back to the school that changed his life. In 1980, Freeman was an intern at the state capitol when legislation had been passed to establish the College of Law at Georgia State University, but he was already committed to another law school.
“I still was not going to give up a scholarship for a law school that was unaccredited, in one building, with a couple of professors,” said Freeman. “But something kept saying, ‘if that law school is prepared to take a chance on you, you need to be prepared to take a chance on that law school’, and I’ve never looked back.”
Freeman says he owes his success to Georgia State Law so being a donor gives him the opportunity to create great memories and connections while helping others the way the College of Law helped him. His commitment to Georgia State Law has been lifelong, and the school’s chapter of the Black Law Students Association is named for him.
“I get an opportunity to meet those diamonds in the rough before they graduate and go out into the world and become the diamonds we always knew they were,” said Freeman.
Over the past 12 years, 1,279 scholarships have been awarded to Georgia State Law students. If you are interested in becoming a donor, contact the assistant dean of development, Ely Abbott at [email protected].
Written by Mara Thompson