The Atty. Erlinda Espiritu Gawad ng Karunungan
Erlinda Arce Ignacio Espiritu -- a woman of substance. A trailblazer.
In 1951, she became the first woman to be admitted to Harvard Law School. At that time, it was unusual for women to attend law school, and even more unlikely for them to actually practice law.
But Atty. Espiritu had always been an outstanding student throughout her school days at St. Scholastica's College. She earned her law degree from the Manuel L. Quezon School of Law.
For someone who already got into a profession where only a few years earlier, most or all of the graduates would have been male, it was only logical that she would try to break through the glass ceiling once more by applying at one of the preeminent centers of legal education in the world – Harvard.
Atty. Espiritu just happens to be the mother of the vibrant Chairman of the PLM Board of Regents, Dr. Benjamin I. Espiritu, and to honor her – he is presenting the second Atty. Erlinda Espiritu Gawad ng Karunungan to ALEXANDRA MIGHTY B. BELEN a B.S. Psychology Student and a Candidate for Graduation of the College of Science and this year's Class Valedictorian.
The award comes with a cash gift of P20,000 that he hopes will go toward the awardee's first action or decision as a professional with regard to her application of experience, knowledge and good judgment learned from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, much like the person after whom the award is named.
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