This year marks the twentieth year that The John Marshall Law School in Chicago has awarded the Lucy Sprague Public Service Award.
The $25,000 award was established in 1998 in memory of Lucy Sprague, who was a second-year law student at John Marshall when she was murdered in her apartment in December 1996. Her family established the scholarship to assist other students who were interested—as Lucy was— in pursuing in a career in public interest law.
Each year, members of the Sprague family travel to Chicago to attend John Marshall’s graduation ceremony and present the award. “We have chosen to remember Lucy and the work she wanted to do by funding the public service award, and it has been an extremely rewarding process for my family,” said Lucy’s brother Zander Sprague. “Through this award, we are choosing to focus on the rainbow that was Lucy’s life and not the dot at the end.”
Over the past two decades, 23 students have received the award. These Sprague Scholars have gone on to the United States Marine Corps, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Circuit Court of Cook County and the Seattle Office for Civil Rights.
Recent John Marshall graduates Taso Tsiganos and Amrita John were this year’s recipients. “We chose Amrita and Taso as this year’s recipients because they have previously participated in internships, clinics and extracurricular activities that show a demonstrable commitment to public service,” Chanté Spann, Assistant Dean for Admissions at John Marshall, said.
In addition to working in John Marshall’s Community Legal Clinics, the Domestic Violence Clinic for Amrita and the Pro Bono Clinic for Taso, both students had public service-related internships. While a student at John Marshall, Amrita interned in the Domestic Relations division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, the Cook County Office of the Public Guardian and the Legal Assistance Foundation. Taso interned at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, the Office of the Cook County Public Defender and the Illinois Attorney General Public Utilities Bureau.
“This generous gift from the Sprague family empowers me and all others who receive it to pursue our passion for public service,” said John. “I am incredibly honored.”
“It is difficult to convey a true sentiment of gratitude in just a few words,” Tsiganos said. “So it is my hope, as a zealous public servant, that by putting into action the skills I gained at John Marshall, I will, by works, continue to express my gratitude and honor the Lucy Sprague Public Service Award legacy. It is an honor to be selected as a recipient.”
