The Honorable Manuel Cepeda (ret.), of the Constitutional Court of Colombia, delivered the 2010 Gordon Human Rights Lecture. Justice Cepeda spoke on “Justice at the Cutting Edge: Socio-Economic Rights in Colombia.”
The annual Valerie Gordon Human Rights Lecture, established in 1993, honors outstanding lawyers, judges, scholars and advocates who work to advance human rights and social justice. Gay McDougall, the first appointed United Nations independent expert on minority issues, delivered the 2008 Gordon Lecture. The lecture is named in honor of the late Valerie Gordon '93, a lawyer and advocate for human rights in the US and internationally. Her commitment to human rights and social justice shown is shared and celebrated by the Northeastern law school community.
Visit our multimedia page for videos of past Gordon Lectures.
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Valerie Gordon Human Rights Lecturers
- 2010: The Honorable Manuel Cepeda, Constitutional Court of Colombia
- 2009: Hauwa Ibrahim, Nigerian Human Rights Lawyer
- 2008: Gay McDougall, Independent Expert on Minority Issues, United Nations
- 2007: Dean Harold Koh, Yale Law School
- 2006: Professor Carol Anderson, University of Missouri-Columbia
- 2005: Jaribu Hill (photo, left), Executive Director and Founder, Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights
- 2004: Professor, Gerard Quinn, National Univerity of Ireland, Ireland
- 2003: Professor Abdullahi An-Na'im, Emory University School of Law
- 2002: Professor Charles Ogletree Jr, Harvard Law School
- 2001: Dean Makau Mutua, SUNY-Buffalo School of Law
- 2000: Professor Adrien Wing, University of Iowa College of Law
- 1999: Loretta Ross, Executive Director, Center for Human Rights Education
- 1998: The Honorable Albert Louis Sachs, Constitutional Court of South Africa
- 1997: Franic Mading Deng, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
- 1996: The Honorable Nathaniel Jones, US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- 1995: The Honorable Dessima Williams, UN Ambassador, Grenada
- 1994: Randall Robinson, Executive Director, TransAfrica
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BLSA Human Rights Essay Contest
Each year, in conjunction with the Valerie Gordon Lecture, the law school's chapter of the Black Law Students Association sponsors a human rights essay contest for first-year law students. The essay topic is announced annually by BLSA, and "The Spirit of Valerie Gordon Award" is presented at the Gordon Lecture each spring.
