Henry Liu, Contributing Photographer

Hailing from San Francisco, where he was homeless for a few years and spent three years in community college before graduating from UC Berkeley, Cris Guevara-Plunkett LAW ’26 always had an interest in politics. 

He served on several local commissions on homelessness policies during college. The injustices he experienced drove him towards law and informed his perspective of the world, but law school always seemed out of reach.

“I mean, I had no idea I was ever going to go to law school,” he said.

Arriving at Yale Law School, Guevara-Plunkett felt “immediately alienated” and “out of place” in a place with so much privilege and wealth. He said it was “hard to see eye to eye” with his classmates, many of whom came from very privileged backgrounds.

However, Guevara-Plunkett said he found community in the Law School’s First Generation Professionals group and the Soledad LAW ’92 and Robert Hurst Horizon Scholarship Program — a need-based full-tuition scholarship that is currently supporting 96 law students, the highest number since the program’s inception in 2022 and an increase from 89 last year.

The scholars now comprise more than 15 percent of the J.D. student body, the Law School announced last month.

“It’s absolutely crazy,”  Guevara-Plunkett said. “The number that they’ve been taking has been transformative.”

Guevara-Plunkett said there is still a wide disparity of perspectives towards socioeconomic class at the Law School. He added that the Hurst Horizon program provides a community for low-income students to feel heard but that the Law School does not have a group for first-generation college students.

He added that the program has introduced a diversity of perspectives into the Law School.

“In the same way that we benefit from receiving a quality legal education without tuition, we still benefit the school to the extent of those kids that come from these very rich and opulent backgrounds that comprise the majority of the law school, they get perspectives for talking to real people,” Guevara-Plunkett said.

Justin Lutz LAW ’26 told the News that the scholarship allows him to support his everyday expenses but also attend Law School without worrying about financial burdens on his family.

Lutz also said he values the expanding network of Hurst Horizon scholars.

“Being the first to do something, whether it’s going to college or becoming a lawyer, is often a lonely experience. By growing the number of Hurst Horizon Scholars, YLS is making our presence here feel less isolating and more meaningful,” Lutz wrote to the News.

Christian Aviles LAW ’26, who went to community college for two years before transferring to Amherst College, came to Yale after eight years in the workforce.

“The Hurst Horizon program is just a way to kick open more doors for the law school and to bring people from all different backgrounds,” Aviles told the News, adding that the record number of scholars would be “great in terms of community building for students who come from low income backgrounds.”

Yakeleen Almazan ’25 LAW ’28 expressed gratitude that the program is continuing to expand during a tense political moment for higher education, where admissions policies are under heavy scrutiny.

“I think it is really telling of the institution’s priorities and what type of students they like to support in their legal education,” Almazan said, emphasizing Yale Law School’s small class sizes. “It definitely demonstrates that they have this commitment to students like me and to students who come from a disadvantaged background.”

The daughter of convicted felons and raised by her grandmother, Almazan developed a strong interest in public interest law and aims to become a public defender. Almazan said that debt was a serious consideration in her search for a law school.

According to a Yale Law School website, Hurst Horizon scholarships are given to students with family income up to twice the federal poverty guidelines and with assets below $150,000.

Correction, Nov. 8: Due to an editing error, the name of one of the authors of this article, Regina Jones, was mistakenly omitted when the article was first published.

Correction, Nov. 12: A previous version of this article misleadingly referred to Yakeleen Almazan as the daughter of a convicted felon. In fact, both of her parents have been convicted of a felony.