Dad’s Gone, but Spirit of Helping Lives on

It was painful enough, suddenly losing the dad she worshiped.

But nearly as difficult for Nadia Davis after her father died was the feeling that, after he had inspired her to become an education rights attorney, she would need to quit Loyola University Law School.

“He was the reason I was there,” says Nadia, 26, of Santa Ana. “He was the one who made me believe you could [achieve] good by being an attorney.”

Continuing with her studies following the death three years ago of Wallace R. Davis--a 59-year old Santa Ana attorney and Latino rights activist--would have been a hardship, she says.

Emotionally, she was devastated. Financially, “it came to a point where I told myself, ‘I can’t continue.’ ”

Ironically, it would be the way her father faced adversity during his own life that would enable Nadia to continue her studies.

The year Davis died, the Orange County Hispanic Education Endowment Fund--established to provide community and financial support for Latino students from grammar school through college--named a scholarship after him.

Fund advisors had been inspired by the life of Davis. As a small, motherless boy, he picked chili peppers in the fields to support his family. He held a janitorial job in a high school to put himself through college. And later--four years out of UCLA Law School--he argued the precedent-setting Santa Ana School District case before the state Supreme Court that led to the state’s culturally neutral student entrance exams.

(Because of her father’s action, the district was forced to forever change its practice of placing disproportionate numbers of Latino students in a program for the mentally retarded.)

In 1994, Nadia became the first student to be awarded $1,000 from the Wallace Davis Memorial Legal Scholarship Fund, sponsored by the Hispanic Bar Assn.

“She had tremendous financial burdens,” explains attorney Ruben Smith, co-chairman of the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund. “We felt it only appropriate to give her the first scholarship.”

Founded in 1993 under the aegis of the Orange County Community Foundation, the fund has as its financial goal a $1-million scholarship endowment.

So far, $700,000 has been raised and about $40,000 has been disbursed, says Smith. The fund has several sub-funds (such as the scholarship fund named after Davis) established in the areas of business, education and the arts.

“Because 44% of the kids in public school in Orange County are Hispanic, and, historically, Hispanic kids have had the most hurdles to overcome, the fund is important to all residents,” Smith says. “We all need to be concerned about the future of the county.”

Says Peter Ueberroth, an honorary founding chairman of the fund: “This fund is the way I know to positively impact a very talented, local group of future leaders. It is essential that we [in Orange County] have a large group of Hispanic leaders. You can’t achieve that unless you encourage and equip them through educational opportunity.”

On Friday, more than 600 supporters of the fund gathered to honor area teachers with Apple of Gold awards during a benefit dinner at the Irvine Marriott hotel.

Guests included Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove). During a pre-dinner reception, Sanchez, fresh from her duties on Capitol Hill, emphasized that the fund “was not a partisan thing.”

“Everybody--all professionals--in Orange County are getting together to support it.”

Sanchez is also proud that the Latino community is raising funds to educate its own. “Before we can ask others to help our community, it’s important that we put our money on the table,” she says. “People consider us to be an underfinanced community, but the reality is, we have many professionals, many entrepreneurs. This is our opportunity to get our kids the kind of education they need to succeed in the 21st century.”

Receiving Apple of Gold awards for excellence in teaching were: Phyllis Perez of Villa Park High School; Manuel Espinosa, Valley High School in Santa Ana; Toriann V. Lee, Brea Olinda High School; and Angelina Veyna, Santa Ana College. Also honored were Helen Preciado McClure of Coastline Community College in Fountain Valley, Don Wise of Santiago High School in Garden Grove and Enriqueta Ramos of Rancho Santiago Community College District.

Other guests included Orange County Supervisor William G. Steiner, former Orange County Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez and dinner co-chairs Marina Elena Avila, Frank Dominguez and Socorro Vasquez.

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When Nadia--who has completed her studies and is awaiting bar exam results-- learned three years ago that she would receive a scholarship, she appreciated the vote of confidence as much as she did the financial support, she says.

“At that point in my life, I wasn’t feeling a connection to anything. . . . I missed my dad’s warmth, encouragement, hope. And that’s what they gave me. It was like a whole group of people saying: ‘We need you; you can do it!’ ”