Donor Impact Report 2024-2025

A graduate of Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal , Professor Brooks clerked for Judge Clifford Scott Green and practiced at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York before being drawn to academia. His scholarship spans more than 20 books and 100 articles, redefining fields from civil rights theory and jurisprudence to international human rights and reparations. Among his acclaimed works are Integration or Separation? (Harvard University Press), Atonement and Forgiveness (University of California Press), The Racial Glass Ceiling (Yale University Press), and Diversity Judgments (Cambridge University Press).

written word: generations of students remember him as a mentor who demanded rigor, fostered curiosity, and embodied kindness. For many, his influence has been nothing short of life-changing. The reflections of USD Law alumni Shannon Finley ’13 (JD), Vickie Turner ’82 (JD), and Charlotte Hasse ’05 (JD) capture the depth and breadth of his impact on their education, careers, and, most importantly, on who they have become as people. For Finley, Professor Brooks transformed uncertainty into confidence. As a first generation law student, she found his classes both challenging and empowering—a place where all viewpoints were welcomed. He

GIVING

Dean Robert Schapiro describes Brooks as a “fearless teacher and pioneering scholar whose

work has reshaped the way we think about law, justice, and democracy.” He is a two-time University Professor, the university’s highest academic distinction, and has received the Thorsnes Prize for both outstanding teaching and scholarship, the Thurgood Marshall Award, and the Virgil Hawkins Award, among many others. His influence extends far beyond the ‘‘ Professor Roy Brooks’ fearless scholarship and boundless humanity have shaped generations of lawyers and thinkers. His legacy of justice will continue to thrive through the Roy Brooks Fund for Social Justice. – DEAN ROBERT SCHAPIRO personally encouraged her to pursue a federal clerkship she never believed was within reach, an opportunity that launched her career. As she put it, “He just influenced my life in such a profound way in that only teachers can.” Though Turner was not his classroom student, she formed a decades-long mentorship

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2024-25 DONOR IMPACT REPORT