King Hall Outreach Program Honored by American Bar Association
The King Hall Outreach Program (KHOP) has been honored by the American Bar Association Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline with the 2016 Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Award for Excellence in Pipeline Diversity. The award honors KHOP's success in working to foster diversity in the "educational pipeline" leading to law school admission.
"The University of California Davis School of Law's King Hall Outreach Program is an example of pipeline programming that optimizes the kind of efforts that the Pipeline Council hopes to continue to encourage and foster," Council Chair Kenneth G. Standard said in an ABA press release.
Established in 2001, KHOP is a unique program that helps first-generation and economically disadvantaged college students prepare for the law school admissions process. The program provides mentoring and pre-law advising during the school year and also takes eligible college juniors and seniors through summer sessions in which they learn writing, analytical, and logical reasoning skills, study techniques for taking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), and explore career paths available to law school graduates.
To date, 240 students have successfully completed the two-year program, and 100 students have completed at least one year. Among KHOP program alumni, 99 percent have graduated from a four-year institution. Forty-one percent are enrolled or have graduated from a law program. In 2014, the KHOP received the California State Bar Education Pipeline Award for its role in diversifying the legal profession.
"It is very gratifying to learn that the American Bar Association has chosen to honor the King Hall Outreach Program," said Dean Kevin R. Johnson. "We as a country need lawyers from all walks of life, and to achieve that goal, we need programs like KHOP to help provide access to legal education for underrepresented communities. I would like to thank the many UC Davis School of Law faculty, alumni, students, and staff who have contributed to KHOP's success."