BU Law School Black History Month Lecture - Judge Bernice Donald of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

“Enhancing the Legitimacy of Courts in a Pluralistic Society,” A Talk Given by the Honorable Bernice B. Donald Co-Sponsored by the Black Law Students Association and Women of Color Collaborative. Members of the Boston University Community are invited to join a talk given by the Honorable Bernice B. Donald, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Tuesday, February 22nd. Attendees must register in advance and, upon arrival show their BU ID card or an official vaccine card, or a digital vaccine passport constituting proof of vaccination. All visitors are required to wear a face mask in the law complex in accordance with University policy. THE HONORABLE BERNICE B. DONALD was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by President Barack Hussein Obama on December 1, 2010 and re- nominated in January 2011. She was confirmed 96-2 by the Senate on September 6, 2011, becoming the first African American woman to serve as a judge on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to joining the Court of Appeals, Judge Donald was appointed in 1995 by President William Jefferson Clinton to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, where she was the first African American woman to serve on that court. Judge Donald served as Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Tennessee from June 1988 to January 1996. She was the first African American women in the history of the United States to serve as a bankruptcy judge. In 1982, she was elected to the General Sessions Criminal Court becoming the first African American woman to serve as a judge in the history of the State of Tennessee. Judge Donald received her law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, where she later served as a member of the Alumni, Law Alumni, and University Foundation Boards of Directors and as an adjunct faculty member. She received a LLM from Duke University School of Law and an honorary Doctors in Law from Suffolk University.