Kristen Clarke ’93, left, returns to Choate to receive the Alumni Award.
For her dedication to combating discrimination and promoting civil rights, Ms. Kristen Melissa Clarke ’93 was presented with the 2017 Choate Rosemary Hall Alumni Award last Wednesday, May 3. From Brooklyn, New York, Ms. Clarke is the President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the country’s most important civil rights organizations.
Before matriculating at Choate in the fall of 1989, Ms. Clarke attended Prep for Prep, a leadership development and gifted education program, from which 12 current Choate students graduated. At Choate, Ms. Clarke was on the cross country and track team, as well as the wrestling team. She was also a Gold Key tour guide and served on the Judicial Committee. Having taken advantage of the many opportunities Choate offered, Ms. Clarke said, “I am proud and grateful for the opportunity to have spent four years at this incredible institution.”
After Choate, Ms. Clarke attended Harvard University and later received her law degree from Columbia. At Harvard, she continued to spread her positive influence by heading the Black Students Association and raising awareness about race and inequality.
Before taking her current position, Ms. Clarke was Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau in the New York Attorney General’s Office, Co-director of the Political Participation Group of the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, and a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Throughout her career, Ms. Clarke has been motivated by one question: “How can we create a world in which there is more justice, greater opportunity, a level playing field, and equal access to opportunity?”
Not only revered by Choate, Ms. Clarke has also been recognized by several other organizations. She was the 2016 Alumni of the Year by the National Black Law Students Association. She has written for several publications and is the author of several books, including Barack Obama and African American Empowerment: The Rise of Black America’s New Leadership. Ms. Clarke has been featured on a variety of media organizations, including CNN and MSNBC.
The alumni award was first given to former President John F. Kennedy in 1958 after he was elected to Congress. Until 2017, the Alumni Association chose one male and one female winner each year. However, from this year onward, a single candidate will be picked, regardless of the candidate’s gender. Furthermore, according to Ms. Monica St. James, the Head of the Alumni Association, “The award is completely divorced from donors. The recognition is completely relevant to the recipient’s own work.”
Ms. St. James said, “Ms. Clarke headed the pack of candidates for this award because she is so inspiring. Every year, we want the recipient to have achieved something incredible. We also value the message given to the students.” In addition, it is important that the recipient’s work parallels the values of the school. Striving to combat inequality in the American justice system, Ms. Clarke does just that.
In her address to the community, Ms. Clarke stressed the positive impact Choate had on her life. One of her favorite teachers was the late Mr. Zach Goodyear, who taught political science and advised The News. In particular, she recalled an experience when Mr. Goodyear took her, along with her classmates, to sit on a hearing for the Sheff vs. O’Neill case in Hartford, Connecticut, which concerned racial segregation in school systems. Ms. Clarke explained, “That experience and that class truly sparked my interest in civil rights lawyering. It was a game changing moment for me.”
Citing her choice to join the Boys’ Wrestling Team, Ms. Clarke said, “Choate was a place where I learned to make bold and courageous choices.” Ms. Clarke also placed an emphasis on the important friendships she formed in high school. “The real value of my friendships lay in the fact that they prepared me for the real world — a world that requires that you know how to deal and connect with people who are different from you.”
Fifteen of Ms. Clarke’s classmates attended the event, one traveling from as far as Florida. Ms. St. James said, “The fact that her class supported her, that she had such a big impact, was inspiring in itself.”
On the award’s importance, Ms. St. James commented, “I think that for students, who are here for up to four years, it’s important to realize that what one does at Choate impacts his or her entire life-long career, and that each individual is part of a larger Choate network.”
In her presentation, Ms. Clarke asserted that she was clearly influenced by her Choate career. In addition, Ms. Clarke is one of many who remains part of the perpetual “Choate network” and has the ability to inspire the rest of the community through his or her own fields of work.
Above all, Ms. Clarke was a fitting candidate for the annual alumni award. She conveyed a powerful message to students and showed how one’s Choate experience can have a major impact on his or her life. Her passion and dedication in her work has allowed her to hold a prestigious and important position in her field of work, and Choate was proud to recognize her for her achievements.
