NIU Law grad from Carol Stream gets scholarship

DeKalb, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University College of Law selected Alia Choudhury, of Carol Stream, as a recipient of the Kenneth and Ellen Chessick Bridge to the Bar Scholarship.

The Bridge to the Bar scholarship provides recipients with $5,000 in financial support while preparing to take the Illinois State Bar Exam. Joining Choudhury as recipients of the award were Nareman Abdallah, Jeffrey Brown, Corey Sealy, and Sania Merchant.

Kenneth Chessick, a 1984 alumnus of NIU Law, plans to expand the number recipients of the Bridge to the Bar Scholarship over the next two years.

The Chessick's have been generous supporters of NIU and the NIU College of Law. In 2004, the Chessick's gift allowed for the creation of the Kenneth C. Chessick Legal Training Skills Center In 2007, the Chessick's created the Kenneth C. Chessick Civil Justice Endowed Scholarship Program, which now funds five $25,000 endowed awards named for his clients who were victims of medical negligence.

Most recently, the Chessicks pledged $3 million to NIU athletics to name the Kenneth and Ellen Chessick Practice Facility. This gift is the largest ever made to Northern Illinois Athletics and the second-largest gift to the university.