Fellowships Commemorate Deceased Law School Student

The father of a law school student who died last month has established a fellowship in his son's memory for Law School students who take low-paying summer legal jobs aiding tenants or labor organizations.

Steven B. Shelton will donate an undetermined amount of money to establish the two fellowships and may also raise money to create a larger fund to directly assist labor and tenant organizations, Janet C. Varon '78, a member of the board of directors of Student Funded Fellowships (SFF), said yesterday.

David S. Shelton '80 had led a tenant-organizing group and tried unsuccessfully to organize local cab drivers.

Shelton, a first-year law student, was found dead in his Boston apartment. Friends and a mortuary attendant said immediately after his death that Shelton may have committed suicide.

The Suffolk County Medical Examiner's office declined to comment on the cause of death yesterday.

The fellowship will be administered by SFF, a student organization which gives fellowships to law students doing public-interest legal work over the summer. Fellowships are usually funded through pledges from law students.

Students in Shelton's first-year law section are organizing a similar fellowship through SFF.

Kenneth R. Markus, who is organizing the fellowship, said yesterday that students will be asked to transfer their pledges into the David Shelton fund, preferably adding to their initial pledges.

The fellowship is a fitting way to remember Shelton, Varon said. "David was really an organizer, which was different from his law school identity and, in many ways, more important to him."