U of M Law Students Honored in Kente Ceremony

Pictured after receiving their stoles of Asante Kente cloth are, left to right, Samuel Christian, Jennifer Fitzgerald, Damia Young Rolfe, and Crystal Johnson Jourdan.  (UofM Photo by Lindsey Lissau)

Four seniors at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law were honored earlier this month during the Kenneth Maurice Cox Donning of the Kente Ceremony.

          Honorees were December 2007 graduates Samuel Christian, Jennifer Fitzgerald, Damia Young Rolfe, and Crystal Johnson Jourdan.  Each received a graduation stole marked with the scales of justice and Asante Kente cloth, a ceremonial cloth hand-woven in African villages that is traditionally reserved for wear during special occasions.

          The ceremony, first held in April 2007, recognizes graduating African-American law students who have contributed to the law school’s academic, cultural, and professional environments.  It is named in honor of one of the first African-Americans to earn a law degree from the University of Memphis.