The Olga Gracey Scholarship was established by the Student Bar Association of Empire College School of Law in March 1981 in memory of Olga Gracey, a first-year law student who died tragically in a fire in February of the same year. Students, friends, and family members contributed to the original trust fund. During the academic year of 1993-1994, Professor Nancy Ryan donated a percentage of the proceeds from her seminars to this scholarship fund.
The purpose of the trust is to award a scholarship annually to qualified first-year law students enrolled at Empire College School of Law. The amount awarded to each scholarship recipient is to equal the cost of all textbooks required for the first-year course of study for the academic year in which the scholarship is awarded.
The Scholarship Committee is comprised of three faculty members. The criteria for the selection of each scholarship applicant is as follows:
1. Each recipient must be a woman;
2. She must be self-supporting; and
3. She must be enrolled in her first year of study at Empire College School of Law.