UCLA Black Alumni Association to Host Reception Honoring Judge Kevin Brazile, first African American Presiding Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court

UCLA Black Alumni Association (UBAA) will host the Winston C. Doby Legacy Scholarship Reception to recognize Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kevin Brazile, UCLA alum and the first African American presiding judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court.  The private reception will take place on the 28^th Floor, Sky Lounge of the Ritz Carlton Hotel located at 900 West Olympic Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles on March 14^, 2019 from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.

“Judge Brazile is Black Bruin excellence,” said Robert Grace, UCLA Black Alumni Association Board Chairperson.  “The UBAA legal community is celebrating Judge Brazile while raising much-needed scholarship funds to usher in the next generation of Black Bruin scholars.”

Brazile graduated cum laude from UCLA in 1980 with a B.A. in political science, and earned his J.D. in 1983 from the UCLA School of Law.  He was appointed to his current role in 2003 by then-Governor Gray Davis.  He previously served as division chief of the general litigation division and argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit and the California Courts of Appeal.  He also served as a member of the General Litigation Division of the Los Angeles County Counsel’s Office Started in 2006, the Winston C. Doby Legacy Scholarship was established to provide much-needed financial assistance to African American students accepted to UCLA.  The scholarship program was developed as a response to the enrollment of only 96 Black freshmen to UCLA that year and named after the former UCLA Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Dr. Winston C. Doby and is administered by the California Community Foundation.

Today, UCLA boasts the highest African American undergraduate enrollment rate in the entire UC-system.  UCLA is also ranked the #1 public university in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, and 16^th overall among U.S. law schools.  “UCLA has seen the highest African American freshmen enrollment rate in the school’s history over the last three years,” said UBAA President Michelle Johnson.  “Judge Brazile is a trailblazer in the legal field, and an example of the exceptional students that graduate from UCLA thanks to scholarship support.”

The reception is brought to the Los Angeles community by attorney Rickey Ivie, managing partner of Ivie, McNeil and Wyatt, and former UBAA Board of Directors Chairperson.  Co-hosts include former UCLA Alumni Association President Peter Taylor, and J.P. Hamlett of J.P. Hamlett Investments Strategies.

Additional information about the Winston C. Doby Legacy Scholarship Fund can be found at http://www.uclablackalumni.org/legacy-scholarship-fund.  Contributions made to the fund online and at the event are tax deductible and benefit scholarships for UCLA students.