Everett Mitchell
The Rev. Everett D. Mitchell, a Dane County Circuit Court judge from Wisconsin, will deliver the keynote address at the University of Georgia’s Black Faculty and Staff Organization’s 15th annual Founders’ Award Scholarship Luncheon.
The event will be held Sept. 12 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Tate Student Center’s Grand Hall.
Tickets are $50. Tables are available for sponsors starting at $320. Proceeds from the luncheon will be used for BFSO activities and the scholarship program, which awards scholarships to outstanding undergraduate, graduate and professional students at UGA.
Mitchell has demonstrated his continued commitment to fairness and justice in many areas. Before being elected to the bench, Mitchell served as director of community relations for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Under his leadership, UW-Madison invested $350,000 in opening the South Madison Partnership Space to better promote university and community relationships. Before going to the university, Mitchell served Dane County as an assistant district attorney.
“The Honorable Rev. Everett Mitchell is very passionate about community engagement and social justice,” said Henry N. Young, an associate professor in the College of Pharmacy and president of the BFSO. “We are thrilled to hear such an outstanding figure share his experiences.”
A graduate of Morehouse College, Mitchell also holds a master’s degree in theology and divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School.
In 2016, Mitchell became the third elected African-American Dane County Circuit Court judge in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Previously, Mitchell served as associate director of the Madison Area Urban Ministry from 2004-2010 where he worked extensively with restorative justice programs for ex-offenders. As a restorative justice coordinator with Madison-area Urban Ministry, he and his team developed a system so men and women who return from prison would have a residence, employment, support, treatment and education.
For more than 30 years, BFSO has been involved in conceptualizing and implementing programs and services focused on equity and diversity at the University of Georgia. BFSO’s advocacy and activism played a pivotal role in the creation and growth of the Department of Minority Services and Programs, the Institute for African American Studies, the African American Cultural Center, the Office of Institutional Diversity, the Presidential Minority Advisory Committee and several university-wide initiatives focused on the recruitment and retention of African-American faculty, staff and students.
For questions about ticket purchases or sponsorship opportunities, contact Narke Norton at yspnarke@uga.edu.