Adriel Colon awarded Puerto Rican Bar Association scholarship

Adriel Scholarship Photo

Adriel Colon, a Law Clerk at Shenker Russo & Clark, received a scholarship from the Puerto Rican Bar Association at the organization’s 60th Anniversary Gala.

In 1978, the Puerto Rican Bar Association Scholarship Fund, Inc. (the “PRBA Scholarship Fund”) was founded as a separate corporate entity registered under the New York State Not-For-Profit Corporation Law by the then-President of the PRBA, the late Donald Grajales, distinguished New York State Court of Claims Judge. The PRBA Scholarship Fund was created for the purpose of raising funds to award financial scholarships to deserving law students. Thanks to the generosity of corporate and member contributions at the Annual PRBA Scholarship Fund Gala Banquet, the PRBA Scholarship Fund has been able to award over $200,000 in scholarship awards. The PRBA is currently seeking to establish a foundation that will permanently fund these scholarships.

On the list of notable attendees at the Gala was the entire Court of Appeals (minus Judge Feinman), Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte, and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez.

The Puerto Rican Bar Association, Inc. (PRBA) was founded in 1957 by a group of Puerto Rican and Latino attorneys who began gathering socially to offer one another both personal and professional support in an era when it was difficult for attorneys of color to be accepted as members in established bar associations. The PRBA at that time focused its efforts on addressing the concerns of a rapidly growing Latino community and the legal services it required.