From the left: Mr. Pascal Grégoire, Director, Foundation of the Université de Sherbrooke; Me Yanick Tanguay, Partner and Vice President of the Board of Directors, Dunton Rainville; Professor Louis Marquis, Dean, Faculty of Law of the Université de Sherbrooke; Me Jean-Jacques Rainville, Partner and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dunton Rainville; and Me Andrée-Anne Ouimette, Partner at the Sherbrooke office, Dunton Rainville.Handout
The organizers: Jean-Jacques Rainville and staff at Montreal law firm of Dunton Rainville
The pitch: Donating $120,000
The cause: Scholarships at the Université de Sherbrooke
Jean-Jacques Rainville has deep roots in Sherbrooke, Que. He was born there, graduated from the Université de Sherbrooke and he’s now chairman of the Montreal-based law firm of Dunton Rainville which has six other offices across Quebec including one in Sherbrooke.
Mr. Rainville has kept up his ties to the city. He makes sure the Dutton Rainville actively participates in U de S’s co-op program for law students and this month he announced that the firm is donating $110,000 to the university over the next five years to fund scholarships for graduate students. The donation will eventually create an endowment for five scholarships worth around $2,000 each for students studying business law and public policy law.
The firm also donated an additional $10,000 for seven graduate scholarships last fall for students studying in the same fields. The scholarships are worth $1,500 each and the faculty of law has chipped in an extra $500 per award.
“It’s about the future, we have to invest together in the future,” said Mr. Rainville who graduated from U de S in 1975.
This is the second scholarship program Dunton Rainville has funded. In 2015, the firm donated $50,000 to the law school at the Université de Montréal to create an annual scholarship for undergraduate law students. Mr. Rainville added that the firm is considering future gifts to both universities.
Mr. Rainville visits Sherbrooke frequently and a few years ago he attended his daughter’s graduation from U de S. “When she received her diploma, I remembered the times when I was on the campus and when I lived there. It’s a lot of good memories and good feelings,” he recalled. “And I think we have to contribute for the future, for the youth, for their education.”
Paul Waldie