Community Corner
Berkeley Resident Receives Kennedy Laureate Award
John F. Kennedy University continues its tradition of lifelong learning and community service through the Kennedy Laureate Award. The Award is bestowed on individuals who embody these ideas through excellence in their respective fields and service to others and their community. The Honorable Thelton Henderson will receive the Kennedy Laureate Award at a dinner on November 2 at the Blackhawk Auto Museum.
Consistent with the themes of lifelong learning and service to the community, the dinner is also a fundraising event with all proceeds directly funding educational scholarships for JFK University veteran and low-income students.
In 1962, Henderson became the first African-American lawyer in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. He investigated the 196316th Street Baptist Church bombing which killed four girls and met Martin Luther King and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. His career has included private practice, director of the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, Assistant Dean of Stanford Law School, law professor at Golden Gate University, and US District Court Judge.
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As a judge, Henderson has made landmark civil rights decisions including the treatment and medical care of prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison and the entire statewide prison system. In addition, he struck down the anti-affirmative action Proposition 209.
Henderson has received numerous awards including the Pearlstein Civil Rights Award from the Anti-Defamation League and the Distinguished Service Award by the National Bar Association.
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Additionally, the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at Boalt Hall is named for him. A documentary on his life, Soul of Justice by Abby Ginzberg, was released in late 2005.
The University will also honor two additional awardees at the event including Jonathan Moscone, Artistic Director of California Shakespeare Theater, and Shirley Nelson, Founder and Chairman of Summit Bank. The awards program will include dinner and a tour of the auto collection, silent and live auctions, comments from the award recipients and a special preview of JFK University’s 50th Anniversary.
