Inspirational. Compassionate. Revolutionary.
Those were among the adjectives that guests at Cardozo’s Peace Gala used to describe Professor Lela Love, the founding director of the law school’s Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution.
After soliciting the input of the 200 guests at the dinner celebration, Dean Melanie Leslie added to the list, saying, “Lela Love created this program through a sheer force of will, and she never stopped. She believed in her vision, she pursued it forcefully every day at Cardozo, and the results are visible here tonight in the tremendous outpouring of support from our alumni.”
Love, a renowned mediator and dispute resolution pioneer, joined Cardozo in 1985 when she founded the Cardozo Mediation Clinic, one of the first clinical programs to train law students to be mediators. In 1990, she established the Kukin Program through a generous gift from Ira and Doris Kukin.
Since then, the program has evolved to offer four clinical programs, the top-ranked Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, the prestigious International Advocate for Peace Award, and a rigorous and varied dispute resolution curriculum. Cardozo is ranked the fifth-best dispute resolution law program in the country by U.S. News and first in New York.
The gala included a conversation with dispute resolution visionaries Professor Andrea Schneider, Howard University School of Law Professor Homer La Rue, mediation pioneer The Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.) and Love. A catalyst, sought-after speaker, artist, and philanthropist committed to sparking change, Kwanza Jones '99, a former student of Love's, performed John Lennon's "Imagine" in an inspiring sing-along. The event raised more than $75,000, which will be used to support various aspects of the Kukin Program, ensuring its continued growth and success.
Schneider, the director of the Kukin program, praised Love for her scholarship and groundbreaking leadership.
“I am truly honored to be her successor, knowing that she has impacted New York City and the entire globe with her drive for peace and peacefulness by training and modeling the skills that everyone needs to actually make that happen,” she said.
Director of the Cardozo Mediation Clinic Robyn Weinstein '09, a former student and fellow of the Kukin program, analogized Love’s work as a teacher and trainer to a woman blowing dandelion seeds into the breeze, each one ripe with possibility.
“Lela, you sow to every wind, picking seeds full of potential and spreading them everywhere,” she said. “The impact of your work, scholarship and leadership has spread so far—I am certain the seeds have landed in places we cannot yet imagine.”
Love thanked the attendees, saying, “What is so fun is the community of people here who were united in something that is innovative."
She asked members of the audience to stand when she acknowledged various groups she has worked with, including members of the mediation clinic, co-authors and editors, professors and mediation-contest participants.
By the end of her speech, everyone in the room was standing. Love then shared the spotlight by asking them to give themselves a round of applause and a standing ovation, which, to her delight, they did.