Imelsis Tellez Riquelme named 2022 diversity scholarship recipient

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Imelsis Tellez Riquelme has been named as the 2022 recipient of the Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote Penn State Law Diversity Scholarship. Tellez Riquelme, a first-year law student at Penn State Law in University Park, has been awarded $10,000 and a summer clerkship in DMC’s Pittsburgh office.

“In the second year of this scholarship, we see the tremendous impact it has on exceptional law students, including this year's recipient, Imelsis Tellez Riquelme,” said James W. Houck, interim dean of Penn State Law in University Park and the School of International Affairs. “We are proud to partner with Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote and grateful to them for helping to diversify the law profession through this scholarship program.”

Tellez Riquelme, a native of Havana, Cuba, described herself as a “foreign-trained attorney from a communist country, passionate about commercial transactions, who is on her way to accomplishing her second legal education.”

“I am honored and grateful to be the 2022 recipient of the Dickie McCamey scholarship. As a first-generation lawyer and as a Latina, I’m determined to contribute to legal projects that increase the visibility of underrepresented communities in the legal field,” Tellez Riquelme said. “I’m excited to work and learn from incredibly inspirational attorneys at the firm.”

The scholarship provides tuition support for first-year law students enrolled at Penn State Law in University Park, whose gender, race, ethnic, cultural and/or national background contribute to the diversity of the student body. In addition to the scholarship, a summer clerkship is awarded to the scholarship recipient.

“Imelsis’ commitment to the legal profession is profound,” said Christopher T. Lee, managing attorney of the Pittsburgh office of Dickie McCamey. “She has already earned a law degree from the University of Havana Law School and is currently pursuing a second degree in law at Penn State.”

The firm has pledged $50,000 to the University over five years to fund the Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote Penn State Law Diversity Scholarship.

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Penn State Law and a member of the scholarship selection committee, mentioned the tremendous need for scholarships, such as this, because the legal field remains one of the least diverse professions in the country—in 2021, 85 percent of all lawyers were non-Hispanic whites, according to the ABA.

“The ripple effects of scholarship opportunities for underrepresented law students are profound,” Wadhia said. “Providing them with greater access to the legal profession and allowing firms and organizations to benefit from their lived experiences helps cultivate the talents of future minority lawyers.”

Dickie McCamey, a national, full-service law firm, currently employs 22 attorneys who have earned undergraduate degrees from Penn State and 11 attorneys who have earned their Juris Doctor degrees from Penn State Law in University Park and Penn State Dickinson Law, located in Carlisle.