Students of Color Dinner Celebrates Achievement and Promise

A 20-year tradition of solidarity and support was cause for celebration April 2 at UB Law School's Students of Color Dinner, held at the Buffalo Niagara Marriott.

The dinner, with the theme "Lifting as We Climb," is a joint effort of the Law School's Black Law Students Association, Latin American Law Students Association and Asian American Law Students Association. Those organizations honored the achievements of their members set to graduate in May, as well as recognizing distinguished alumni, minority trailblazers in the legal field, professors and administrators.

Keynote speaker Dr. Muriel Howard

Following dinner and an energetic drum and dance routine by a 15-member ensemble from the African-American Cultural Center, those in attendance were urged to the highest standards of ethics and integrity by the evening's keynote speaker, Buffalo State College President Dr. Muriel Howard.

Howard recently announced she would be leaving Buffalo to become president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universitiesthe latest step in a fast-moving and distinguished career. She used that news as a springboard to reflect on her upbringing and the lessons that have served her throughout her life.

Born on a farm in North Carolina, one of six children, Howard moved with her family to New York City as an adolescent. She recalled with pride her parents' purchase, when she was in the ninth grade, of a house in "a new neighborhood where we were about the third family of color on our street." She remembered also traveling an hour and a half to attend a brand-new high school in a predominantly white area.

"Those were very, very challenging times for me personally," she said. "My economics teacher in ninth grade made me sit in the last seat in the last row, behind all the boys, because he didn't think I should be at that school. Although I experienced a lot of challenges, my parents always kept us focused on the goal, and that is to obtain a good-quality education. My parents firmly believed that education was what would transform their children's lives, and they were absolutely right."

She came to UB on a teaching fellowship, and within 10 years had become a vice president. "The University at Buffalo was a place where I was allowed to excel and to grow, and where I was mentored by many people," Howard said. "There were a lot of intellectual individuals there with strong core values who supported me and allowed me to excel."

Her life experience, Howard said, has taught her that nothing but the highest ethical standards will suffice for those in professional life.

"You may have heard that physicians and police officers will close ranks around one of their own accused of misconduct," she said. "That is not true of attorneys. If you are guilty of a breach in ethical conduct, your best friends in the legal profession will toss you under the nearest bus. So look to your left, look to your rightone of those people will blow you in if you commingle funds, tamper with a jury or don't pay your taxes. It's just a fact of life in the law."

She left the audience with words of advice about learning to handle conflict, broadening one's universe of contacts, taking risks, seizing opportunity when it comes and recognizing that luck plays a large part in life.

"Congratulations to all the graduates," she concluded. "Go out there and make us proud."

Allison T. Chan '11 receives the Students of Color's Distinguished Alumni Award on behalf of her mother, Margaret W. Wong '76.

Distinguished Alumni Awards were presented to Margaret Wong '76, accepted by her daughter, Allison Chan, and to Tasha E. Moore '98. The Trailblazer Award was given to Brenda W. McDuffie, president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League. The Jacob D. Hyman Professor of the Year Award went to Barbara Sherk, director of academic support at the Law School. Two "Lift As We Climb" scholarships were awarded: to Alexandra Thomas, a high school senior from West Seneca, and to UB freshman Osiris Gomez.

New at this 20th annual Students of Color Dinner was the Monique E. Emdin Award, given in honor of the 2007 UB Law graduate, who died tragically of cancer at age 28. It is funded with an endowment from the Buffalo law firm Hiscock & Barclay, where Emdin worked as a summer associate and briefly as a full-time associate, and by Bethesda World Harvest International Church, where she was a member.

The award was presented to graduating third-year student Kerese Foster by Emdin's brother Christopher, who offered fond memories of an extraordinary person. "Many times Mo was my chief adversary," he said. "We'd butt heads so much, but at the same time she was also my biggest cheerleader. That was something she did consciously. It was her way of making the people around her better." He also recalled his sister's deep religious convictions, her faith in herself and her ability to see the best in others.

Special recognitions were given to Vice Dean Ilene Fleischmann for her assistance in planning the Students of Color Dinner for the past five years, and to Vice Dean Lillie Wiley-Upshaw, for her efforts to recruit the highest-quality candidates for Law School admission and for her work with current students to help them succeed in school.

Following a performance by a 12-person troupe from UB's Japanese Students Association, the leaders of the three sponsoring organizations gave their President's Awards: AALSA, to Mickey Reyen; BLSA, to Candacé Jackson; and LALSA, to Tiffany Lebron.

The event's traditional candle-lighting ceremony closed the evening, as graduating third-year students "passed the torch" to those who will follow them as leaders in UB Law's students of color community.

Co-chairs of the 20th annual Students of Color Dinner were Shereefat Balogun '09 and Siana Mclean '10. Sponsors included, at the Diamond level, BarBri Bar Review, Hiscock & Barclay, the Minority Bar Association of Western New York, the UB Law School faculty and the Student Bar Association; and at the Platinum level, Brown & Hutchinson, Damon & Morey and Harter Secrest & Emery.