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Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Roosevelt Robinson left a hole when he retired from the bench last December because of failing health. He had been one of two African Americans among the county's 37 judges, a founding member of the Association of Oregon Black Lawyers and alumnus co-founder of Lewis & Clark Law School Minority Law Student's Association.
But Roosevelt Robinson is not just a name on many charters; he is an ongoing presence in many lives. And because of a scholarship being established at Lewis & Clark Law School in his honor, Judge Robinson will continue to cultivate the diverse field of Oregon lawyers and law students he worked his entire career to build.
Attorney Chuck Tauman, a former classmate of Robinson's, approached the law school this fall about establishing an endowment in the judge's name that would bring more minority students into the law school - and keep them in the state to practice.
Roosevelt had often expressed his concern about the fact that there weren't more minority lawyers in Oregon, he said. (The scholarship) seemed to be a perfect fit between Roosevelt's goals and the goals of the law school.
The scholarship fund will assist minority students facing financial hurdles to achieve a law school education. Recipients would also commit to live...