WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 20, 2018) — The Council on Legal Education, Inc. (CLEO) honored Howard University alumnus Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. with the inaugural CLEO EDGE Heritage Award on November 15, 2018. Jordan is a noted civil rights leader/activist, attorney, businessman, and board member to several Fortune 500 companies. To commemorate Jordan’s lifetime achievements, each award hereafter will carry Jordan’s namesake as the “CLEO EDGE Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Heritage Award.”

“CLEO has been doing groundbreaking work for the last 50 years to help bring more diversity and inclusion to the legal profession,” says Dean of Howard University School of Law Danielle Holley-Walker who is also a member of the CLEO 50^th Anniversary Awards Gala Coordinating Committee. “It is fitting that in CLEO’s 50^th anniversary they are honoring trailblazer and Howard Law legend, Vernon Jordan.”

Jordan earned a juris doctorate from Howard University in 1960 becoming a practicing civil rights attorney and trailblazer in the civil rights movement. Jordan was awarded at the CLEO 50th Anniversary Awards Gala held at the Ritz Carlton – Washington, D.C. In addition to Jordan, 150 individuals, law schools, and legal organizations were celebrated at the event.

Find more information about the CLEO 50th Anniversary Awards Gala and CLEO EDGE Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Heritage Award here.

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About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, two Marshall Scholars, one Schwarzman Scholar, over 70 Fulbright Scholars and 22 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

Media Contact: Misha Cornelius, misha.cornelius@howard.edu