The prestigious prize celebrates extraordinary members of the bar and bench, nonprofit organizations, and individuals distinguished by their long-standing dedication to ethics and public service. To honor Dunn, the law school will host an award ceremony.
Dunn, an African American native Floridian, is professor emeritus and retired chairperson of the department of psychology at Florida International University. Born during the Jim Crow era, he brings a perspective to Black history that has been missed, distorted, and minimalized. He co-authored "The Miami Riot of 1980: Crossing the Bounds" (1984). He also authored "Black Miami in the Twentieth Century" (1997) and "A History of Florida: Through Black Eyes" (2016).
Founded in 1996, the Center for Ethics and Public Service is a law school-housed ethics education, experiential skills training, and community engagement program devoted to the values of ethical judgment, professional responsibility, and public service in law and society.
The center's mission is to educate law students to serve their communities as citizen lawyers.
For 28 years, the center has served as an incubator and an accelerator for numerous public service initiatives. They include on-campus and off-campus clinics (Children and Youth Law Clinic, Community Economic Development and Design Clinic, Community Lawyering Clinic, Environmental Justice Clinic, Health Law Clinic, and Social Enterprise Clinic), programs (Brown University Institute at Brown for Environment and Society partnership, Dartmouth College Ethics Institute Internship Program, Professional Responsibility and Ethics Program, Street Law Program, and University of Miami Joint College of Arts and Sciences Program on Law, Public Policy, and Ethics), summer colloquia (University of Miami Environmental Justice, Policy, & Science), and oral histories and documentary films (Oral History and Documentary Film Project).
The Hoeveler Award was created in honor of the Honorable William M. Hoeveler, senior U.S. District Court judge and the inaugural recipient, as a lifetime achievement award for a lawyer or an organization of outstanding ethics and public service. Hoeveler died in 2017 at the age of 95.
“For decades, Dr. Marvin Dunn has been the leading cultural and social historian of race in Miami and Florida more generally," said Professor Anthony V. Alfieri, CEPS director and Community Equity Lab, Historic Black Church Program, and Legal Profession Program. "His scholarship, teaching, and civic activism have set an extraordinary standard for personal courage and public integrity that has inspired generations of students, faculty, and citizens here in South Florida and elsewhere across the nation. Most important, his commitment to education, inclusion, and justice honors the tradition of moral leadership embodied in the life and work of Judge William M. Hoeveler.”
Past awardees include former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, former Florida Supreme Court Chief Judge Rosemary Barkett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan, J.D. '87, B.A. '84, and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle, who has served since 1993.
Janeal Fordham is a second-year law student at the University of Miami, where she is a HOPE Scholar and Fundraising Chair for the National Lawyers Guild. Prior to attending law school, Janeal was the Gallard Fellow for The Branson School in Marin County, CA. She taught in the History Department and served as the school's Community Engagement Director. Janeal graduated from Spelman College with a B.A. in Political Science.
Brandi Griffin is a second year law student at the University of Miami, where she is a member of the Black Law Students Association, Miami Law Women, a Student Ambassador with the Office of Admissions and a Dean’s Fellow for Elements. She is originally from Atlanta, Georgia.
Omarley Spence is a second-year law student at the University of Miami School of Law and is from Lauderhill, Fl. He graduated from the University of Florida in 2019 with a B.A. in Economics and an M.S.M. in Management. Prior to coming to law school, he gained skills in project management and financial market trend tracking while working as an Associate at Fisher Investments. He is a member of the Black Law Student Association, a member of the OutLaw Student Association, a member of the University of Miami School of Law Trial Team, First-Generation Law Association, and the Treasurer for the Caribbean Law Student Association. In his free time, Omarley enjoys running and spending quality time with family.