Celebrating Harvard Law’s Black alumni

At the fifth Celebration of Black Alumni on Sept. 12-14, hundreds of Harvard Law School graduates returned to Cambridge to honor the achievements and legacy of Black Harvard lawyers. The three-day event featured panels and speakers on topics ranging from “The Impact of Harvard’s Black Lawyers” to “AI and Civil Rights.”

Among the weekend’s highlights were the conferral of awards to, and remarks by, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson ’85, Howard Law Professor Sherrilyn Ifill, founder of Howard’s 14th Amendment Center for Law & Democracy, and United States Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson ’96, who was honored as a “steadfast defender of the Constitution.”

Inaugurated in 2000 by David Wilkins ’80, the Lester Kissel Professor of Law, and the late Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree ’78, the Celebration of Black Alumni reunion series was subsequently held in 2005, 2011, and 2016. The events honor the contributions of Black Harvard Law graduates across law, government, business, and global affairs since the graduation of George Lewis Ruffin in 1869. In addition to formal programming, the alumni-funded weekend offered all Harvard Law community members an opportunity to gather socially and to connect with peers across generations, legal specialties, and career paths.

“Harvard has graduated more Black lawyers than any other law school apart from the great Howard School of Law, graduates who have gone on to become leaders in virtually every sector of society, including as president and first lady of the United States,” said Wilkins, who is also Harvard Law’s vice dean for global initiatives on the legal profession and director of the school’s Center on the Legal Profession. “This legacy of excellence and accomplishment stands as a powerful testament to the importance of keeping the doors of opportunity open for talented students from all backgrounds for achieving the Law School’s core mission, proudly embodied by our new shield, of creating a diverse and pluralistic community that trains leaders who will change the world for the better based on a deep commitment to law and justice.”

In addition to Stevenson, Ifill, and Jackson, the weekend featured nearly one hundred speakers and panelists, including Harvard Law School Association President Yvonne E. Campos ’88, UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin S. Chemerinksy ’78, Harvard Law School Dean John Goldberg, Howard Law School Professor Sherrilyn Ifill, California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu, Fordham University President Tania Tetlow ’95, and Harvard University Corporation Fellow Kenneth C. Frazier ’78. Members of the Harvard Law School faculty were prominent, with nearly twenty current professors and lecturers participating as panelists and moderators.