From left, Dr. Archie Tucker, UT Tyler senior vice president for advancement; Carol Cox Polumbo; UT Tyler President Kirk A. Calhoun

UT Tyler accepted a $300,000 gift from alum Carol Cox Polumbo to enhance the university’s Pre-Law Academy.

The Pre-Law Academy is designed to encourage East Texas high school students to consider a career in law as well as to assist current college students to be admitted into law school. This gift will help UT Tyler provide more services to more students.

“We are extremely grateful for this generous gift,” said UT Tyler President Kirk A. Calhoun, MD, FACP, “and we are particularly grateful to our accomplished alumna for graciously investing in her alma mater and East Texas.”

Created in 2019, the Pre-Law Academy operates in the College of Arts and Sciences and consists of three components:

• Pre-College is a multi-layered recruitment initiative in which UT Tyler offers programs and hands-on activities for East Texas K-12 students to nurture a desire to study law.

• The undergraduate program includes an enhanced pre-law minor that provides UT Tyler students the necessary content to master the Law School Admission Test.

• The application/admission component includes a pre-law adviser who works closely with students to ensure the strongest possible law school application through workshops, internships and career seminars featuring lawyers and current law school students.

“This academy affords our students the skills and information to increase their chances of successfully applying to and completing law school,” said Dr. Neil Gray, UT Tyler College of Arts and Sciences dean.

Polumbo is currently a partner in the Austin office of McCall Parkhurst & Horton and previously served as the firm’s managing partner 2013 – 2021. She holds an associate’s degree from Tyler Junior College, a bachelor’s degree from UT Austin, a master’s degree from UT Tyler and a Doctor of Law degree from South Texas College of Law.

“Having grown up in Tyler, East Texas has a special place in my heart and as an alumni I am very excited to assist UT Tyler in expanding its Pre-Law Academy,” said Polumbo. “Providing future generations with additional tools to be successful in pursuing a legal career is an opportunity I am proud to support.”

For more information about UT Tyler’s Pre-Law Academy, visit www.uttyler.edu/programs/pre-law/ .

About UT Tyler

With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to nearly 10,000 students.

Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by the U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.