Five Students Win Karsh-Dillard Scholarships

Five first-year students at the University of Virginia School of Law have been named Karsh-Dillard Scholars for the current academic year. The full-tuition awards are given to outstanding incoming students who have demonstrated leadership qualities.

The scholarships are funded by a historic $44 million gift from Martha Lubin Karsh, a 1981 alumna, and Bruce Karsh, a 1980 alumnus, made to the Law School in 2018. The award also honors the Law School's fourth dean, Hardy Cross Dillard, a 1927 graduate.

The recipients are Mary V. Carnell, Jared McKenzie-Smith, Maya Nir, Suzy Schlosberg, and Cole Wagner. They shared their backgrounds and ambitions with the law school.

Scholar Backgrounds and Goals

The five scholars come from diverse academic and professional backgrounds, with career interests ranging from real estate finance to international human rights law.

Mary V. Carnell previously interned at the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm. "I've wanted to be a lawyer since I was a kid," Carnell said, noting her experience confirmed that studying law is the best way to wrestle with complex questions.

Jared McKenzie-Smith participated in a student lobbying program at Morehouse College and worked as an investment analyst intern. He witnessed how law shapes lives growing up in Hartford. He aims to start a career in real estate finance or corporate mergers and acquisitions.

Paths to Law School

Maya Nir worked in journalism and foreign policy after her undergraduate studies at UVA. She served at Foreign Affairs magazine and the Just Security forum at NYU Law School. She realized she wanted a more active role than media work provided. "I worked with a lot of lawyers who really inspired me to take the leap to law school!" she said.

Suzy Schlosberg's interest in law stems from her family's emigration from China when she was eight. A legal aid lawyer helped them with the immigration system. This taught her that knowledge of the law enables profound material change. After a Fulbright teaching assistantship in Bulgaria, she aims to advocate for vulnerable communities through legal aid and systemic reform.

Cole Wagner studied economics and worked in brokerage finance. He is particularly interested in election law and the rule of law as a defense of democracy. "I want to study law because a castle wall is only as strong as those willing to defend it," Wagner stated.

About the Law School

The University of Virginia School of Law was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and is the nation's second-oldest continuously operating law school.