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HL Central — an unofficial nonprofit student organization at Harvard Law School — has pledged at least $500,000 to fund a $25,000 annual scholarship for one incoming first-year student over the next 20 years, in honor of the group’s 25th anniversary.
The inaugural recipient of the scholarship is Max Mickenberg, a first year J.D. student who studied psychology at Dartmouth College. HL Central founder T.J. Duane said Mickenberg was selected for his wor organizing community events and a mentorship program at Dartmouth.
“We wanted to recognize people who, in addition to obviously being qualified enough to get into Harvard Law School, were also very dedicated to making their community better, and had a proven track record of doing that,” Duane said.
The scholarship winner was chosen by the Admissions Office and the Office of J.D. Student Financial Services, which will also manage the scholarship as part of the recipient’s financial aid package. This summer, 125 students of the 560 students in the J.D. class of 2027 applied for the award.
The scholarship’s creation comes as financial accessibility has become an increasing focus at HLS. The school expanded their financial aid package program for low income students last year.
The scholarship is among the first to be awarded by a student organization rather than an alumni fund. Duane said the organization would use excess revenue to fund the scholarship.
“I've never heard of another organization doing something like this,” Duane said. “Most of the scholarships come from different alumni funds.”
But this is not HL Central’s first scholarship initiative.
HL Central has been using revenue to fund $1,000 T.J. Duane Community Development Grants for over a decade. The organization distributes these grants annually to ten students or student organizations “to help support community development and community building efforts on campus,” according to Duane.
Duane founded HL Central in 1999 as a social organization to foster community at HLS by hosting parties and collaborative studying. He described the early days of HL Central as a digital social network “five years before Facebook.”
Today, the organization continues to host social events and connect HLS students with law firms.
“The goal of the organization is always to make the social life better for Harvard Law School students,” Duane said.
—Staff writer S. Mac Healey can be reached at mac.healey@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @MacHealey.
—Staff writer Saketh Sundar can be reached at saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @saketh_sundar.
