San Francisco Bar Association and Golden Gate University Establish Law School Scholarship for Afghan Women; Activist and Playwright Eve Ensler to Lend Support.

News Editors/Education Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 2001

The new president of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF), Angela Bradstreet, today announced the establishment of a three-year, law school scholarship with San Francisco's Golden Gate University.

The scholarship will be awarded to a woman who has suffered as a result of the repressive policies of the Afghan government. The Legal Advancement of Afghan Women (LAAW) Scholarship is intended to serve as a model for other law schools and bar associations throughout the United States. Noted women's rights supporter and author of the "Vagina Monologues," Eve Ensler, is participating in the efforts to locate potential scholarship recipients.

"Through the tragic events of Sept. 11, the world has come to know the abuses inflicted by a succession of governments in Afghanistan on its own people, particularly its women, as the government has enforced a stone-age policy of denying females access to education," said Bradstreet, president of BASF, partner in the law firm of Carroll, Burdick & McDonough, LLP and a long-time advocate for women's causes. "While the Taliban has been overthrown, the effect of years of abuses and long established patterns of culture could take decades to erase. This scholarship is one step toward correcting these injustices."

Applications for the scholarship, which will be supervised by a joint selection committee from BASF and Golden Gate University, are currently available to interested students through BASF. The committee will then oversee the application and selection process, with the goal of choosing the scholarship winner by the end of the first quarter of 2002.

"Too often we learn of human rights abuses in far corners of the globe and don't really have an effective way of responding to them at the local level," said Peter Keane, dean of Golden Gate University School of Law. "This scholarship is a very direct, practical way to begin to counteract the years of restrictions imposed on the education of women in Afghanistan."

Preliminary steps have already been taken to identify potential candidates for the scholarship, which is open to female Afghan students from around the world. Ensler, founder and artistic director of "V-Day," a global movement to stop violence against women and girls, is providing her support in the international search for qualified candidates. She has traveled to Afghanistan and met with Islamic women activist groups that are helping in the search for scholarship applicants.

"The women of Afghanistan have endured hardships that will have ramifications for years to come," said Ensler. "I am happy to do whatever I can in moving this scholarship program forward and making it a national program."

In addition to Ensler's efforts, members of the scholarship selection committee will be addressing Afghan student groups throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, asking for their assistance in the search for worthy applicants.

The LAAW scholarship is part of a larger slate of BASF programs for the advancement of women's issues. Plans for 2002 include the establishment of a blue ribbon panel, led by Mary Cranston, chair of Pillsbury Winthrop LLP, to address glass-ceiling issues. California State Supreme Court Justice Joyce Kennard will serve as honorary chair for the panel. In addition, the BASF will launch a breast cancer peer counseling hot line directed by Sarah Weddington, the plaintiff's attorney in Roe v. Wade.

"As an attorney and businesswoman, these issues have always been extremely important to me, and I welcome the opportunity to advance these causes through my role as president of the bar association," added Bradstreet. "Women face a variety of challenges throughout the world. By establishing this scholarship and encouraging other bar associations throughout the country to do the same, the Bar Association of San Francisco will be working at the regional, national and international levels to overcome some of the challenges faced by Afghan women."

For more information about the LAAW scholarship or for an application, contact Joan Firestone at 415/782-8910. Founded in 1872, the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) is a nonprofit voluntary membership organization with more than 9,000 members and over 400 sponsor firms, corporations and law schools. BASF is one of the largest and most dynamic metropolitan bar associations in the nation, with a long and distinguished record of community action, public service and service to the legal profession. www.sfbar.org