The Family Law Enforcement Scholarship: What It Is And Who It Helps
Higher education is expensive, so getting scholarships for university and law school can reduce financial stress significantly. Few recipients are more deserving than the children, grandchildren, spouses, and other relatives of law enforcement officers who risk their lives for their communities every day.
Every year, Fales & Fales, P.A. awards its Family Law Enforcement Scholarship to a graduate or undergraduate student with a family connection to law enforcement. Since its inception in 2015, five students have benefited from the $1,000 award.
The tradition was established by attorneys Jennifer Ferguson and Anthony Ferguson (whose father served with the Lewiston, Maine Police Department) to support educational opportunities for the relatives of active-duty, retired, disabled or deceased members of law enforcement.
To be eligible, applicants must:
- Be enrolled full-time at an accredited university or law school
- Have a current GPA of at least 3.0, proven by submitting official transcripts from the applicant’s school
- Have a family member who is or was anactive-duty member of law enforcement (includes reserve officers)
- Submit a typed one to three-page long essay describing how that family member’s work in law enforcement has affected their life. Unrelated essays will not be accepted.
Submissions must be sent to the attention of Anthony Ferguson by 5:00 p.m. CST on August 31st. Winners are notified on or around September 30th.
Previous winners are:
- 2019: Marymount University student Jordan Kelly, who is married to a Virginia police officer.
- 2018: Emily Heithcock, an undergraduate student whose grandfather, a deputy with the Fairview, Tennessee, police department, was killed in the line of duty.
- 2017: Shawna Garcia, whose father is in law enforcement.
- 2016: Tasanee Durrett, whose mother serves with the Chicago Police Department.
- 2015: Christine Murphy, the daughter of a Massachusetts State Police officer.
- The 2020 winner will be announced before the end of the year after all submissions have been reviewed. For more information about the Family Law Enforcement Scholarship, contact Fales & Fales, PA.
