IRVINE, Calif. (October 24, 2024) — The University of California, Irvine School of Law announced the establishment of the Sylvia Mendez Presidential Chair for Civil Rights and installation of Robert S. Chang, professor of law and executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, as the inaugural chair holder. The creation of the chair was made possible by a generous gift from the Berwick Degel Family Foundation and a matching contribution from the University of California Presidential Match for Endowed Chairs program.
The gift was announced during the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality’s opening celebration on Oct. 22 with Sylvia Mendez and more than 150 people in attendance. The occasion featured remarks from Prof. Chang; Dr. Karen Korematsu, founder and president of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, and daughter of Fred T. Korematsu; California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who delivered a keynote address; and other distinguished speakers, highlighting the Korematsu Center’s future initiatives and commitment to advancing civil rights through legal education and advocacy.
Originally founded by Prof. Chang in 2009, the Center honors Fred T. Korematsu, a civil rights hero who famously challenged the U.S. government’s exclusion orders during World War II. The Center’s mission is to advance racial equality and combat systemic injustice through litigation, policy advocacy, and public education. The chair will support the Korematsu Center’s executive director as they spearhead its teaching, research and advocacy efforts.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to recognize Sylvia Mendez and her family’s courageous fight for justice,” said Jim Degel and Jeannie Berwick, founders of the Berwick Degel Family Foundation. “And we are especially heartened by the Mendez family’s relationship with the Munemitsu family, a story of solidarity and resilience in the face of racism. We’re excited to continue our partnership with the Korematsu Center and we continue to have faith in Professor Chang’s vision and leadership, especially at this critical time.”
“We are immensely grateful to Jim Degel and Jeannie Berwick, founders of the Berwick Degel Family Foundation, for their generous support,” said Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law Austen Parrish. “Their gift will provide vital resources to Professor Chang as he leads the Korematsu Center’s next chapter at UC Irvine Law.”
Click here to view more photos from the celebration
More About Sylvia Mendez and the Sylvia Mendez Presidential Chair for Civil Rights
The Sylvia Mendez Presidential Chair for Civil Rights is named in honor of Sylvia Mendez, a renowned civil rights advocate whose landmark case, Mendez et al v. Westminster School District of Orange County, played a crucial role in ending school segregation in California. Her family’s successful fight for the desegregation of Mexican American students in Orange County preceded the historic Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which declared school segregation unconstitutional across the United States. Recognized with numerous honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, Mendez’s legacy is woven into the fabric of the civil rights history in California and the U.S.
The Sylvia Mendez Presidential Chair for Civil Rights honors not only the historic significance of the Mendez et al v. Westminster School District of Orange County case, but also the connection between the Mendez family and the Munemitsu family, who moved to Orange County in the 1930s and was later forcibly displaced and sent to incarceration camps. Prof. Chang being installed as the chair, while serving as the executive director of the Korematsu Center, seeks to acknowledge the historic connection between the Mexican American and Japanese American communities — and more broadly the Hispanic and Asian American communities — in Orange County and the important role those Orange County families played in the nation’s civil rights movement (see “Entangled Inequalities”).
“I am honored to have my name associated with the advocacy of civil rights through the establishment of this chair,” said Sylvia Mendez. “The struggle for equality is not just my family’s legacy but a shared commitment to justice that continues today. I am proud to see UC Irvine Law and the Korematsu Center advancing that mission, and I look forward to witnessing the impact of Professor Chang and the Korematsu Center’s important work.”
“I am so grateful to Sylvia Mendez for granting permission to honor the legacy of her fight for civil rights through the naming of the endowed chair,” said Professor Robert S. Chang, executive director of the Fred. T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality and inaugural holder of the Sylvia Mendez Chair for Civil Rights. It is a privilege as well as a daunting responsibility to hold a chair bearing the name of this civil rights icon. I can only hope to live up to the challenge through the work we do in the Center.”
“We are deeply proud to establish the Sylvia Mendez Presidential Chair for Civil Rights,” said Dean Parrish. “Sylvia has inspired generations with her advocacy for educational equality and civil rights. Her fight for justice resonates with the mission of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality and its dedication to social equity in California and beyond. In naming this chair after Sylvia, UC Irvine Law pays tribute not only to her personal achievements but also to the broader legacy of civil rights victories that have shaped California and the nation.”
More About Professor Robert S. Chang
As UC Irvine Law announced the creation of the chair, the Law School celebrated Professor Robert S. Chang’s significant contributions, including research, scholarship, and teaching, by installing him as the inaugural holder of the Mendez Presidential Chair. The recognition follows Prof. Chang’s recent slate of accolades. In November, he will receive the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award, which is NAPABA’s lifetime achievement award and highest honor.
He also was recently honored with the Asian Bar Association of Washington’s President’s Award; the Washington State Bar Association’s Justice Charles Z. Smith Excellence in Diversity APEX Award; and the Korean American Bar Association (WA)’s Mentor of the Year Award. The King County Bar Association awarded Prof. Chang and the Korematsu Center for Law and Equality with its “Friend of the Legal Profession” award.
Prof. Chang’s latest book, “Banned: Fighting for Mexican American Studies in the Streets and the Courts” (co-authored with Prof. Nolan L. Cabrera), will be published by Cambridge University Press later this year.
For more information on the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality and its upcoming initiatives, please visit law.uci.edu/centers/korematsu.
About the University of California, Irvine School of Law
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