The 30th Annual VelanDale Virtual Scholarship Program
Event Information
About this event
Join the Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers (WAAL) on Thursday, September 23rd for the 30th Annual VelanDale Virtual Scholarship Program - "Elevating Voices, Shaping Our Future." We are excited to announce this year's guest and keynote speaker, Rhonda Powell, General Counsel, BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed is the world’s leading tech-powered media company, with a cross-platform news and entertainment network that reaches hundreds of millions of people globally. The company produces articles, lists, quizzes, videos, original series; lifestyle content through BuzzFeed Media Brands including Tasty, the world’s largest social food network; original productions across broadcast, cable, SVOD, film and digital platforms for BuzzFeed Studios; original reporting and investigative journalism through BuzzFeed News; and BuzzFeed Commerce, which develops social commerce products and experiences, as well as licensing and other strategic partnerships.
This program is an opportunity to celebrate and honor the achievements of the late Vel and Dale Phillips, as well as the next generation of Wisconsin lawyers. We hope that you will join us for an evening of celebration, scholarship, and excellence.
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VelanDale Scholarship Awards
WAAL is proud to honor the career and legacy of the late Vel and Dale Phillips for the last twenty-eight years. In 1990, WAAL established a scholarship in the name of the late W. Dale Phillips to provide scholarships to African-American law students at Wisconsin’s two law schools--Marquette and the University of Wisconsin. In 2004, WAAL proudly renamed the scholarship the VelanDale Scholarship Award to include and honor Vel Phillips' outstanding accomplishments. Vel Phillips passed away in 2018 and Dale in 1988, but their community work and legacy will forever live on. WAAL will award two law students - one from Marquette University Law School, and one from the University of Wisconsin Law School, with this honor.
Honorable Maxine A. White Book Scholarship Award
In 2013, WAAL created the Honorable Maxine A. White Book Scholarship Award. The scholarship, named after Chief Judge Maxine Aldridge White of the First Judicial District, honors Judge White's continuous service to WAAL's mission and her pursuit of personal and professional excellence. The scholarship will be awarded to one law student from Marquette University Law School or the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Honorable Charles N. Clevert, Jr. Scholarship Award
In commemoration of Judge Charles N. Clevert, Jr.'s retirement after nearly 40 years of distinguished service on the federal bench, WAAL established a scholarship in his name in 2017. The Honorable Charles N. Clevert, Jr. Scholarship Award honors the achievements and contributions of Judge Clevert as the first African-American federal judge in Wisconsin. The scholarship will be awarded to one law student from Marquette University Law School or the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Contact waalawyers@gmail.com for any questions or concerns.
Organizer Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers
Organizer of The 30th Annual VelanDale Virtual Scholarship Program
WAAL is an association of African-American Lawyers dedicated to ensuring diversity in Wisconsin's legal community.
Goals of WAAL:
- To promote professional improvement of its members
- To become and remain actively involved in and cooperate with creative forces in the community
- To advocate needed legal and judicial reform to make justice available to all people
- To assist the Black community in eliminating root causes of poverty and powerlessness
- To defend against the denial of basic human and legal rights
- To use legal tools and discipline for the advancement of education, housing, business, and economic development, health delivery systems and social institutions for Blacks.
WAAL welcomes partnerships with other community, state and national programs designed to ameliorate or eliminate racism, ignorance, poverty and powerlessness, the organized and non-organized Bar, the Bench, scholars and researchers, the private sector as well as governmental agencies.
WAAL is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization.