The Oklahoma Bar Foundation is pleased to highlight the scholarship recipients of the Chapman-Rogers Scholarship & Fellows Scholarship for the 2016-2017 school year.
The Chapman-Rogers Scholarship recognizes an outstanding law student from each of Oklahoma’s law schools. It was established through donations to the Oklahoma Bar Foundation from Leta M. Chapman in honor of her Tulsa lawyer and advisor, John Rogers.
2016 Chapman-Rogers Scholarship Recipients:
Amy Basler
J.D. Candidate, Class of 2017
University of Tulsa College of Law
Amy Basler graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2014 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Sciences. She is the President of the Public Interest Board and is a notes and comments editor for the Energy Law Journal. She has received Cali awards in both property law and decedents, estates, and trusts. Her first summer of law school she interned with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, and worked for Birmingham, Morley, Weatherford and Priore 2L year. Amy interned at the Department of Justice in the Environment and Natural Resource Division in Washington, DC.
“This scholarship is such a blessing because it fully financed my bar prep course and will allow me to devote my full attention to studying and passing the bar this upcoming July. After graduation and the bar, I hope to practice environmental and natural resource law in the Tulsa area.”
Zachary Williams-Kupec
J.D. Candidate, Class of 2019
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Zach Williams-Kupec is currently a first year law student at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He obtained his Bachelor of Music from the University of Oklahoma in 2010, and a Master of Arts in Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2014. Following graduation, Zach interned as a Music Therapist at Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Hospital in Oklahoma City. From there, Zach started his own private music therapy practice, serving individuals with special needs in the Oklahoma City metro area, while simultaneously acting as Life Enrichment Director for Legend Senior Living, LLC. Zach continues to volunteer with the Music Moves Mountains Foundation, a charity focused on bringing music education and music therapy to children throughout Oklahoma and Texas.
Zach has always wanted to attend law school, but after finishing his MA he realized there is a need for individuals with legal education both within the Music Therapy field and in general healthcare to advocate for patient care and access to services.
Sarah D. Willey
J.D. Candidate, Class of 2017
Oklahoma City University School of Law
Sarah Willey is a third-year law student who serves as Resource Editor for the Oklahoma City University Law Review. She is a member of the William J. Holloway American Inn of Court for the 2016-2017 term and is a Licensed Legal Intern. Sarah has worked for the Oklahoma County Public Defender’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, as well as a small criminal defense and family law firm in Oklahoma City. Her Comment, Challenges to the “Killing State:” Eighth Amendment Concerns in Warner v. Gross, was recently published in the forty-first volume of the Law Review. After graduation and licensure, she intends to practice criminal law in Oklahoma. Sarah graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and History.
“This scholarship means more than monetary assistance to me. Though I am truly grateful for that assistance, it also means recognition to students who want to work and counsel Oklahomans after graduation. I intend to practice public law in the State of Oklahoma after graduating, and this recognition fortifies my determination to give back in any way I can. This scholarship is a burst of energy in the last leg of a long marathon. I’m grateful for it.”
The Fellows Scholarship was established in 2006 to recognize the Oklahoma Bar Foundation’s 60 years of service to the legal profession and Oklahoma citizens. This scholarship is awarded to law students from each of Oklahoma’s three law schools who have demonstrated high academic standards, the intent to practice law in Oklahoma, and a commitment to public service.
2016 Oklahoma Bar Foundation Fellows Scholarship Recipients:
Tara L. Jordan
J.D. Candidate, Class of 2018
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Tara Jordan is a second year student at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. In addition to pursuing her studies, Tara is the co-founder and Director of Impact at Arrow Global Capital, an Oklahoma-based investing platform that currently supports entrepreneurs in Nicaragua, Mozambique, and Rwanda. Tara is a recipient of the Comfort Scholarship at OU Law and is also a member of the Dean’s Leadership Council as a mentor to the first-year Class of 2019. She currently serves as Secretary for the Hispanic American Law Student Association and is a member of the Organization for the Advancement of Women in the Law, the Black Law Student Association, Lawyers Against Sex Trafficking, and the Oklahoma International Law Society. Tara also volunteers with the Victim Advocacy and Protection program at the Women’s Resource Center in Norman.
Before returning to school, Tara researched, contributed to, and edited a paper entitled “Denial of Justice: The Latest Indigenous Land Disputes Before the European Court of Human Rights and the Need for Expansive Interpretation of Protocol I,” with forthcoming publication in the Yale Human Rights and Development Journal at Yale Law School.
Tara is fluent in Spanish and earned her bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the University of Oklahoma in 2010, graduating with a 4.0 GPA and highest honors. After law school, she looks forward to using her J.D. as she continues her career in the international business arena, serves neighbors and local clients, and does her best to represent the “Oklahoma standard” at home and abroad.
“Receiving a scholarship from the Oklahoma Bar Foundation is incredibly humbling. I so appreciate not only the opportunity to receive financial support, which has been very helpful, but also the opportunity to engage with the Oklahoma Bar while still a student. I look forward to meeting more members of the bar working in the international business and development fields, as well as immigration law, and I’m grateful to be in a position to learn from them as I grow into the profession.”
Kristin E. Richards
J.D. Candidate, Class of 2017
Oklahoma City University School of Law
Kristin Richards is a third-year law student at Oklahoma City University School of Law, where she is a member of the Oklahoma City University Law Review and received the Law Review’s 2015-2016 Award for Outstanding Case Comment. She also currently serves as the President of the Student Bar Association and is an academic fellow for Civil Procedure I and II. During her fourth semester of law school, Kristin served as a judicial extern for The Honorable Noma Gurich of the Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma native also holds a bachelor’s degree in Language Arts/English Education from the University of Oklahoma.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Chase Snodgrass
J.D. Candidate, Class of 2017
University of Tulsa College of Law School
Alexander “Chase Snodgrass” is an Oklahoma native, born and raised in Oklahoma City. Chase attended Oklahoma State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration. He discovered his passion for energy while interning at Chesapeake Energy Corp. as a Government Relations Intern. Since starting his legal education at the University of Tulsa College of Law, Chase has had the opportunity to intern for Justice Winchester of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, extern for Magistrate Judge Cleary, intern for the Grand River Damn Authority, clerk at Riggs, Abney, Neil, Turpen, Orbison, and recently finished working on energy policy for Congressman Markwayne Mullin’s office in Washington, D.C. Chase currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Energy Law Journal and has previously served as an Executive Editor for the ABA Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources Law’s Year-in-Review publication. Chase was also recently appointed by Governor Mary Fallin to serve on the Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Chase is looking forward to the road ahead and all that it has in store for him.
“I am appreciative of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation for providing these valuable scholarships. I know it will make a proud difference in my legal education.”