Law Firm Will Send Students to College

Lurline (Lucky) Hemphill closed the deal of her life over lunch this summer, winning hundreds of thousands of dollars for her “clients” from the head of one of the city’s largest law firms.

“It almost brought tears to my eyes to hear Lucky talk about her school,” said Warren Christopher, chairman of the law firm O’Melveny & Myers. “I said, ‘How can we help?’ ”

The answer came quickly from Hemphill, principal of O’Melveny Elementary School in San Fernando--so named for its locale on O’Melveny Street, which was named for the father of the law firm’s founder, Henry O’Melveny.

By the end of the power lunch, Christopher had agreed to give $12,000 college scholarships to eight sixth-grade students at the school every year starting this fall.

The scholarship program--the only one of its kind in the Los Angeles Unified School District--is to encourage the students to attend college. The money will be paid only if the students receive their high school diploma and earn grades that qualify them for admission to the California State University system.

“Now I won’t have to worry about paying for college,” said Monica Cova, 11, one of the eight scholarship winners honored in a school-wide assembly at the O’Melveny school Friday. “My parents are real happy.”

In addition to the five girls and three boys from the elementary school, the law firm for the next six years has also agreed to give $12,000 scholarships to four San Fernando High School students who attended O’Melveny as youngsters. Those winners will be announced this spring.

“The purpose is to motivate students who, right now, may have the potential but may not be thinking about college,” said Hemphill, a 22-year veteran of the Los Angeles school district. “We look at grades and test scores to see if they have the potential to get to college, as well as their classroom conduct and financial need.”

School board member Roberta Weintraub praised Hemphill’s efforts to secure the scholarship money. “You are the luckiest principal in the whole district,” she said.

The law firm will assign an employee to keep tabs on the youngsters and offer assistance as they progress through school.

In 1986, the O’Melveny law firm adopted the elementary school under a district program, providing some gifts such as computers and furniture, as well as providing speakers to talk about careers.

The school is located in a largely Latino, blue-collar neighborhood in the city of San Fernando. Only one of the parents of the scholarship winners attended college.

“A lot of our parents are from Mexico, some have only a second- or third-grade education,” said Charlotte Bonner, the college adviser at San Fernando High School. “Scholarships like this are for many the one chance to get out of the barrio or ghetto.”

Christopher, the law firm’s chairman, said he hopes the scholarship idea catches on among his competitors in Los Angeles.

“Our goals are quite simple,” said Christopher, a graduate of Hollywood High School and USC. “To encourage students to stay in school, to do well and to continue their education after high school.”

Pedro Fuentes, whose son Pedro Jr. was among the winners, said in Spanish that the scholarship is a great and unexpected opportunity.

“This is beautiful,” Fuentes said. “We want our children to go as far as they can.”

The firm’s efforts have apparently had an impact on the school’s students. Two of the winners said they plan on becoming lawyers.