Western New England University School of Law Dean Sudha Setty met with the Honorable Mary E. Hurley ‘76 to thank her for her continued generosity and commitment to support law students through the Mary E. Hurley Endowed Law Scholarship. Last year, Judge Hurley pledged to fulfill a total gift of $40,000 to help students who had financial need.
Having successfully run for a seat on the Massachusetts Governor’s Council two years ago, Judge Hurley made a campaign pledge to put the $10,000 annual raise to good use by establishing a scholarship with that money. Continuing on her promise, Judge Hurley presented WNE School of Law with her second gift of $10,000 in December 2018.
Judge Hurley was a founding partner of the Springfield, MA law firm of Hurley, Melikian, and Sousa. A former Springfield city councilor, Hurley was elected as the first female mayor of Springfield in 1989. In 1995, she was chosen to serve as an Associate Justice of the Chicopee District Court, and served 19 years on the bench before retiring in 2014. Hurley is now Of Counsel to Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan & Blakesley, P.C., and was elected as a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council in November 2016.
The Mary E. Hurley Endowed Law Scholarship will provide financial assistance to returning law students who have successfully completed their first year of law studies with a 3.0 GPA or higher. The scholarship recipients will need to demonstrate a financial need and display exemplary scholastic achievement, drive, and integrity. The scholarship is renewable for recipients in subsequent years of study at the Law School.
