October 22, 2021
Announcing the Underground Scholars Pre-Law Association
Contact: azadehzohrabi@berkeley.edu
Berkeley Underground Scholars is proud to launch a Pre-Law Association in partnership with Defenders at Berkeley Law and Blueprint Test Prep for formerly incarcerated and system impacted UC students who are pursuing law school. This program is designed to build a pathway for formerly incarcerated UC students into law school and the legal profession through mentorship, training, networking, and LSAT prep support.
Underground Scholars creates pathways to higher education for incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and system impacted students. Through a three-pronged approach focused on recruitment, retention, and advocacy we are building a prison-to-school pipeline for the 7,000+ students in California state prisons who are enrolled in UC transferable community college courses.
Kevin McCarthy transferred to UC Berkeley from prison after a 15 year sentence. He began doing legal work as a jailhouse lawyer and experienced several legal victories while incarcerated. He is a co-founder of the Pre-Law Association and is currently pursuing a degree in legal studies with plans to apply to Berkeley Law. “As an Underground Scholar and pre-law student, I’m grateful for the support from the Defenders and Blueprint to help me get to law school. The workshops and classes have already been incredibly helpful.” McCarthy stated.
Berkeley Defenders is Berkeley Law's hub for students interested in public defense. The Defenders help foster Berkeley's public defender community through community-wide events, networking opportunities, and peer-to-peer support. The Defenders support the Pre-Law Association by providing mentorship, law school application advising and preparation, and collaboration on events.
Azadeh Zohrabi, the director of the Berkeley Underground Scholars shared, “Many of our students are the first in their family to go to college, testing for and applying to graduate school can be mentally and financially overwhelming without support. The peer-to-peer support provided by the Defenders and the scholarships offered by Blueprint go a long way toward filling the equity gaps that exist for our students.”
Blueprint Test Prep provides students a fun learning experience, the absolute best instructors and teaching methods, and the highest score increases for the LSAT and MCAT. Blueprint is committed to improving diversity in the legal and medical fields by making MCAT and LSAT prep more accessible to underrepresented groups. Through a partnership with Underground Scholars, they will provide scholarships to LSAT prep courses for the Underground Scholars PreLaw Association members.
