Harvard, the nation’s oldest university, has always possessed a certain magic about it, perhaps never more so than 14 years ago when the Ivy League school conferred degrees on members of the Class of 2008.
Best-selling author J.K. Rowling, of “Harry Potter” fame, served as the commencement speaker, earning a ceremonial tribute beforehand when former Harvard students carried brooms during an alumni procession, paying special homage to her wizardry with words.
Also on the stage that day was a real-life legal wizard, a man who had blazed a judicial trail over the course of six decades, carving a legacy that had been recognized by more than 40 colleges and universities with honorary degrees.
That man, of course, was Detroit native Damon J. Keith, a United States Court of Appeals judge from 1977 until his passing in April 2019. Judge Keith became a “Harvard man” that day, receiving an honorary doctor of laws degree from the prestigious institution in Cambridge, Mass. For Judge Keith, it was an honor that stirred his emotions.
“I’ve received a number of honorary degrees over the years – from Yale, the University of Michigan, and many other outstanding colleges – but this one was special,” Keith told me shortly after earning the honor. “There is so much history, so much tradition connected with Harvard that I was deeply moved. It brought tears to my eyes.”
And others.
Lani Guinier, the first black female tenured professor at Harvard Law School and a former law clerk for Keith, served as his escort during the graduation festivities that spanned two days. A noted author and civil rights scholar, Guinier was similarly moved by the occasion.
“When Lani saw me with tears in my eyes, she proceeded to shed tears as well,” Keith said. “We couldn’t hold back our emotions. I was so glad that she was there to share that moment with me and my children and grandchildren.”
The treasured time took on even more significance on January 7 when Guinier died at age 71 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
Her passing, like that of her mentor Judge Keith, was a blow to the voting rights movement, which has come under repeated attack in recent years by Republican-dominated state legislatures across the nation.
Ensuring the sanctity of voting rights in our democratic system, to a large degree, would be the defining issue in Guinier’s heralded legal career.
She was a 43-year-old law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School when she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to become assistant attorney general for civil rights. The planned appointment suddenly became a lightning rod, as Republican opponents of the President expressed their fervent opposition to Guinier’s views on voting rights and quotas.
The opposition rose to such a level that President Clinton eventually withdrew her nomination in the summer of 1993, bowing to the political pressure of the day.
But that disappointment did not deter Guinier from continually speaking out on the importance of preserving voting rights, particularly for people of color.
In fact, she would later write a memoir about her nomination experience, a book titled “Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice.”
In following years, she would translate those strong beliefs into legal action, helping lead the successful defense in various voting rights cases across the nation, including one in Alabama against Jeff Sessions, a future attorney general during the Trump administration.
For Guinier, those legal victories offered hope against the disturbing backdrop of continuing voter suppression legislation, efforts that deserve to be buried once and for all in her and Judge Keith’s honor.
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