Stetson honored with Delano S. Stewart Diversity Award
(L to R): Assistant Dean of Strategic Enrollment Management Laura Zuppo, Assistant Dean of International and Graduate Programs JR Swanegan, student Jonathan Blair, Associate Director of Career and Professional Development Joann Grages Burnett, student GEBA 2018 scholarship recipient Reed Blair, Associate Director for Admissions and Diversity Initiatives Carmen Johnson, Delano Stewart (award’s namesake), Law Dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz, Director of Admissions Darren Kettles, student Brandy Orth-Becker, student Keongela Norton, and student Assita Toure. Photo courtesy Dean Pietruszkiewicz.
Stetson University College of Law was honored on Monday night, April 23, with the Delano S. Stewart Diversity Award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to improving the status of African-Americans in the community during the George Edgecomb Bar Association scholarship banquet. Third-year Stetson Law student Reed Blair received the GEBA Bar Prep Scholarship and was recognized during the banquet. The keynote speaker was Dick Vitale, famed sports analyst and cancer research philanthropist.
“The honor is a significant milestone in Stetson’s longstanding partnership with GEBA, and our continued efforts to recruit diverse law students and promote greater inclusion in the legal field,” said Carmen Johnson, Stetson’s associate director for Admissions and Diversity Initiatives. “Delano Stewart’s pioneering example serves as a welcomed reminder to the Stetson community, including our law students, to not settle for the status quo as we advocate for more equality throughout our communities.”
As Florida’s first law school, Stetson University College of Law has educated outstanding lawyers, judges and community leaders for more than a century. Stetson Law plays a dynamic role in the Tampa Bay metro area, with its main campus in Gulfport and a satellite center in Tampa. Stetson University is also home to a College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business Administration, and School of Music in DeLand, with a university satellite center in Celebration. Stetson Law is ranked no. 1 in trial advocacy and no. 2 in legal writing by U.S. News & World Report. Stetson has also been recognized as one of the Top 20 most diverse law schools in the nation by preLaw magazine and was honored as a National Diversity Outreach Champion by the National Black Pre-Law Conference.
Dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz leads a diverse team of faculty and staff according to Stetson’s mission and values. Through initiatives and forums organized by Stetson’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusiveness and multiple student organizations, Stetson works proactively to address current events relating to diversity and inclusion and to foster an open community dialogue. Stetson Law trains students to serve as engaged advocates in the journey towards an inclusive and just society. Popular courses include a Race and Law Seminar, Diverse Issues in Advocacy course, and a nationally-recognized Constitutional Law and the Civil Rights Movement lecture and travel course, pioneered to educate law students about the impact of the law on racial equality and human rights by engaging directly with veterans of the Movement.
The GEBA annual scholarship banquet, now in its 35th year, also highlighted the Moffitt Cancer Center and its newly launched George Edgecomb Society to raise research funds to address the cancer health disparities in the black/African-American community.
Post date: April 24, 2018
Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
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