There weren’t a lot of legal disputes in Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez’s hometown, Plains, Texas, which she described as a town of “maybe 1,000, including people, chickens and dogs.”
Ramirez graduated from the Dedman Law School in 1991 thanks to Judge Sarah T. Hughes, who fought for minority enrollment in legal programs in the early and mid-20th century and a group of lawyers, judges and law clerks who have a secret affinity for theater.
In 1988, Ramirez was the recipient of the Sarah T. Hughes Diversity Scholarship, an award given to first-year law students that pays for all three years of law school. The Dallas Bar Foundation manages the scholarship fund, which is replenished by the Dallas Bar Association’s “Bar None” production, an annual variety show that runs in SMU’s Greer Garson theater this June.
The annual variety show, directed by Dallas lawyer and theater lover Martha Hardwick-Hofmeister, includes sketch comedy from legal professionals for three nights in June. Last year, Hardwick-Hofmeister’s nephew and SMU sophomore Andrew Bass attended the show.
“It was really great, a lot better than I expected,” he said. “Plus, you get to see lawyers purposefully making fools of themselves.”
The antics have paid off. The proceeds of “Bar None” reached $1 million, impressive for a show whose sole revenue is $25 tickets and that made a mere $7,000 its first year in 1986.
While both Hardwick-Hofmeister and Ramirez enjoy the entertainment value of “Bar None,” they also deeply value the cause it supports. Hardwick-Hofmeister encourages minority enrollment in professional programs.
“The world people will work and live in after graduation is not full of people that are the same as them, so it’s smart to attract a diverse student body, and I think the people who participate in the show feel they are giving back with this scholarship,” she said.
Ramirez said, “Without the Hughes scholarship, I would not have been able to go to SMU, and the relationships that it allowed me to form at the Dallas Bar Association really opened a lot of doors for me and made me feel very welcome in an unfamiliar setting.”
Other Hughes Scholars include a city councilman, a criminal court judge and two assistant U.S. attorneys.
While Ramirez doesn’t sing or dance at “Bar None,” she remains active in the community teaching Trial/Ad sections at SMU Law School and coaching Mock Trial.
Ramirez also described herself as a “do-it-yourselfer” and an avid reader for pleasure. Ramirez is the first generation in her family to attend college.
“My father came from Mexico in 1961 through the Bracero Program, and neither of my parents graduated from high school,” she said.
From her humble beginnings to her impressive career now, Ramirez said, “Everyday in the legal profession is challenging, but this job is the greatest achievement of my career.”
The greatest achievement of the efforts of “Bar None” can be seen in national statistics.
When “Bar None” debuted in 1986, only 12,357 minorities were enrolled in JD programs, according to the American Bar Association. In the fall of 2005, 29,954 students, or 21.4 percent, of JD enrollment was by minority students.
According to the SMU Web site, minority enrollment is around 20 percent, in pace with the rest of ABA approved law schools.
As far as the production of “Bar None” goes, Hardwick-Hofmeister said, “The best part about ‘Bar None’ is the incredibly high caliber of people I get to work with. I am incredibly blessed to work with them and for this cause.”
The 2006 production of “Bar None: The Chronicles of Bar (None)ia: The Liar, The Snitch and The Dark Robe” opens June 21 and runs through June 24 at SMU’s Greer Garson Theater.
For ticket information, contact Barbara Bratton at [email protected].
