Donald Murray Loan Assistance Fund

The Donald Murray Loan Assistance Fund was established in May 1995 through the generosity of the Honorable Samuel I. Rosenberg. A 1972 graduate of Amherst College, Delegate Rosenberg created the fund to support graduates of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law who have chosen a career in the public sector by providing funds to be used towards the repayment of their financial aid debt incurred while attending the School of Law. Without financial assistance, many new graduates would be unable to afford to pursue careers in public interest law.

The fund is named in honor of Donald Gaines Murray, Sr., a 1934 graduate of Amherst College, who in 1935 became the first African-American to enter the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law following the 1890 effort to prevent African-Americans from attending the School. Donald Murray first sought admission to the School of Law in January 1935, but his application was rejected based on race and his subsequent appeal to the Board of Regents of the University was unsuccessful. Upon this second rejection, Donald Murray began to work with lawyers at Howard University, led by Justice Thurgood Marshall, to consider possible legal action. Justice Marshall argued the school’s policy of racial segregation was unconstitutional. Judge Eugene O’Dunne ordered the University to admit Donald Murray to the School of Law and the ruling was upheld by the Maryland Court of Appeals in January 1936. After graduating from the School of Law in 1938, Donald Murray went on to practice in Baltimore where he was involved in several subsequent cases which would lead to the integration of other professional schools at the University of Maryland.