The Reunion Celebration and Alumni Awards Ceremony last June featured four inspirational alumni.
Judge Frank Caprio, JD ’65, HLLD ’91, who was presented with the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award, recounted his family’s immigrant roots, from living in a cold-water flat in Providence, Rhode Island, to his father’s hard work as a fruit seller.
Embodying his family’s values, Caprio pursued his legal dreams at Suffolk Law while working as a high school teacher. Known for his television show Caught in Providence, the judge’s compassionate approach to justice is evident off-camera, too: “I don’t wear a badge under my robe,” he told attendees. “I wear a heart.”
Caprio established the Antonio “Tup” Caprio Scholarship Fund, named after his father, to support Rhode Island students dedicated to enhancing legal access in underserved communities.
George Keches, JD ’75, received the Edward Bray, JD ’58, Legacy Award, and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to contribute to the school’s mission.
In his remarks, Keches reflected on the goals of one of his mentors, former Suffolk Law Dean (and former University President) David Sargent, who, he said, was committed to “evening out the playing field, on a socioeconomic basis, for students, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity—fulfilling the commitment of Suffolk Law School and allowing people to pursue their dreams of being attorneys and good citizens.”
Alongside his wife, Ann Marie Maguire Keches, he committed $1 million to establish the George N. Keches, JD ’75, Term Scholarship Fund, aiding first-generation college students from Massachusetts with financial need.
“It just made me feel so good that I could leave that legacy behind,” he said.
Thomas W. Madonna, JD ’80, who received the Outstanding Alumni Service Award, shared his memory of a chance breakfast invitation that led him to serve as the president of the Rhode Island chapter of Suffolk Law alumni. He emphasized the school’s lasting influence on his family and career. Madonna’s dedication to the Law School has long been evident: funding scholarships, championing internships, and playing a pivotal role for decades in the gathering of alumni, many of them judges, for major events.
Vedika Mehera, JD ’15, director of the legal innovation lab at global law firm Orrick, praised her Suffolk Law professors for encouraging her to “think differently, and bigger,” after receiving the Outstanding Graduate of the Last Decade Award.
Singling out Assistant Dean and Professor of Legal Writing Gabriel Teninbaum, JD ’05, among other mentors, Mehera said: Even upon graduation, “I knew they were truly visionaries in the legal innovation space. And I have thought every year since then: ‘They have been right on the money.’”
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winter 2024
Photograph by John Gillooly
Catherine T. Judge Teaching and Service Award
Kathleen Elliott Vinson, JD ’95
Professor of Legal Writing and Director of Legal Writing, Research, and Written Advocacy, Suffolk University Law School
Marian Archer “Trailblazer” Award
Nina Mitchell Wells, JD ’76
Former Secretary of State for New Jersey
All Rise Rising Star
Alyse I. Constantinide, BA ’07, JD ’10
Principal, Beveridge & Diamond, PC
All Rise 2023 Award Recipients
By Chris Caesar
Black Excellence Outstanding Student Award
Sharifa Garvey, JD ’24
Summer Associate, Morrison Mahoney, LLP
Black Excellence Outstanding Alumni Award
E. Macey Russell, JD ’83
Partner, Choate, Hall & Stewart, LLP
Black Excellence 2023 Award Recipients
From left: Thomas W. Madonna, JD ’80; Vedika Mehera, JD ’15; Dean Andrew Perlman; George Keches, JD ’75; Judge Frank Caprio, JD ’65, HLLD ’91.
Photograph by John Gillooly