TALLAHASSEE—A new gift of $65,000 from the Wayne and Patricia Hogan Foundation has allowed the College of Law to increase from 60 to 90 the number of students it accepted into its popular Summer for Undergraduates Program this year. 

The law school received more than 560 applications for the current session, which began May 23 and runs through June 17. That number represents a 64 percent increase in applications over last year. Since the program was established in 1992, it has benefited more than 400 undergraduates from 80 colleges and universities 

“We are thrilled to be able to accommodate more students in the program this year,” said Nancy Benavides, associate dean for student affairs. “The demand for the program has increased dramatically in the last several years and the Hogans’ support has made this expansion a reality. We are to grateful to the Hogans for their continued support of the Summer for Undergraduates Program, both financial and otherwise.” 

The Summer for Undergraduates Program is the largest of its kind and has become a model for other law schools nationally. 

Each year, students enrolled at 2- and 4-year institutions, in all majors and from all backgrounds, are invited to apply. The program is designed to increase access to legal education for students from groups historically underrepresented in the legal profession. The idea behind the program is to train undergraduates to use their college years more effectively to prepare for law school. The intensive four-week program does this in several ways by:

• Exposing them to a traditional and rigorous law school classroom experience
• Requiring them to participate in daily legal writing workshops and assignments
• Introducing them to a variety of role models representing the best of the bench, bar and business

The College of Law provides room and board, course materials, and a stipend to all participants. 

The Hogans also were responsible for other recent growth of the program. In 2000, they designated part of a $2-million gift to the university to the law school to endow the Summer for Undergraduates Program and in 2003, made an additional gift to endowment of $1 million that allowed the law school to permanently increase the size of the program to accommodate 60 students each year. 

Wayne Hogan, a 1972 College of Law graduate, is a partner in the Jacksonville law firm of Terrell Hogan Ellis Yegelwel, P.A. Over the years, Florida State University and the College of Law have benefited from his generosity. In addition to supporting the Summer for Undergraduates Program, he has created endowments for faculty and has supported the mock trial team financially and through personal involvement. He is a recipient of the College of Law’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.