Sugar Land, Texas – Today, SouthWest Water Company, in collaboration with the HMARIA, Inc. Pre-Law Diversity Pipeline Program and the University of Houston Law Center (UHLC), announced the Class of 2020 SouthWest Water Company (SWWC) Pre-Law Fellows. Through this program, the water and wastewater services provider will sponsor and help mentor students who are pursuing law degrees. This is the first year for SouthWest Water Company to offer the SWWC Pre-Law Fellowship Program, which is aimed at promoting diversity in the legal profession.
HMARIA, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that promotes the diversification of the legal profession through its Diversity Pre-Law Pipeline Program, which supports and retains diverse undergraduate pre-law students, law students, and young lawyers.
“We are honored to partner with SouthWest Water to provide the SWWC Pre-Law Fellowship, a unique and life-changing, fully-funded fellowship for college students committed to attending law school,” Dr. Jodie Roure, J.D., Ph.D., CEO and president of HMARIA, Inc., said.
“This innovative partnership is an effort to strengthen our college-to-law pipeline to increase diversity in the legal profession. We celebrate SouthWest Water’s commitment to students from disenfranchised populations as we continue to partner with the University of Houston Law Center, a stellar national law school with a demonstrated commitment to diversity in the legal profession,” added Dr. Roure.
Each student in the fellowship program will receive individualized, year-round support with the law school application process. Students can also partake in rigorous academic enhancement program offerings, legal internships and a structured mentoring program to help students enter into law school in Fall 2021.
“We are pleased that our company’s community engagement will be benefiting causes for anti-discrimination and education,” Rob MacLean, SouthWest Water CEO, said. “SouthWest Water Company looks forward to sponsoring and helping to mentor disadvantaged students to obtain law degrees, pass the bar exam, and increase the number of diverse lawyers in the legal profession.”
“The SWWC Pre-Law Fellowship Program is a stellar opportunity for pre-law students from groups historically under-represented in the law,” Kristen Guiseppi, director of pipeline programs at UHLC, said. “We commend both HMARIA, Inc. and SouthWest Water Company for supporting underserved students with diverse and low-income backgrounds interested in attending law school and pursuing a legal career. UHLC looks forward to this fruitful partnership.” SouthWest Water Company firmly believes in diversity and inclusion, and is committed to serving under-represented communities by supporting opportunities for youth to advance in their studies as well as achieve their academic and professional goals.
About SouthWest Water Company
SouthWest Water Company provides a broad range of operations, maintenance and management service, including water production, treatment and distribution; wastewater collection and treatment; customer service; and utility infrastructure construction management. The company owns regulated water and wastewater utilities and, under contract, also serves cities, utility districts and private companies. SouthWest Water offers high-quality, reliable service to approximately 500,000 people in six states. Additional information may be found on the company’s website: www.swwc.com.
