NEW YORK, New York – The Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association Foundation (BWBAF) has launched its inaugural law school scholarship in honor of distinguished Barbadian-born jurist, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, currently serving as Corporation Counsel of the City of New York.
The foundation said that Sylvia Hinds-Radix Law School Scholarship is for a final year law student at Brooklyn Law School, who is interested in public service and the advancement of women in the law.
BWBAF president Michele Mirman, said that the foundation has already raised over US$100,000 towards the scholarship.
“We will only succeed if we band together. If you’re not a member, I invite you to join. What better name for this scholarship. We recognize Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix, especially being Black and an immigrant.”
Pricilla Hall – a retired associate justice of the Brooklyn Supreme Court, Second Department, who introduced Justice Hinds-Radix, said the judge “belongs to everything” and that she’s “a workaholic night and day”.
Justice Hinds-Radix said she was “very, very overwhelmed” by the outpouring of support, stating “I see all of you who have touched my life and for taking time out to be here.
“Thank you, Hon. Pricilla Hall, for coming out for this significant milestone. I’m a graduate of Howard Law School (in Washington, D.C.), but Brooklyn Law School has just adopted me.”
Justice Hinds-Radix said she was happy that the foundation is able to “equip someone – not just someone, a woman – to go to law school.
“What you have done here is to continue to kneel and allow others to kneel on your shoulders,” she said.
“Veronica (Krass, the inaugural scholarship recipient), if you read the young lady’s resume, you’ll see what she’s done. To enter public service is not to be rich but to be rewarded.
“Remember the people you represent will rely on you,” she continued. “It’s like a ship passing by, and you’ll be a great vessel,” said Justice Hinds-Radix thanking patrons for supporting the initiative and expressed gratitude for staffers at the city’s law department, some of whom attended the gala.
She also thanked her family, including her husband, Dr. Joseph Radix, a Grenadian-born dentist, stating that he’s “the wind beneath my wings.
“I hope to make sure that women, that immigrants, that all the disenfranchised individuals, that they have a voice, because, when they do this, this country works (applause),” Justice Hinds-Radix said.
Krass, a third-year law student at Brooklyn Law School, is a first-generation law student, originally from New Jersey. She graduated from Rutgers University, in New Jersey, in 2020, with a dual major in political science and criminal justice, and a minor in Africana Studies.
Krass has dedicated her time in law school to working with various public defense organizations and hopes to work as a public defender on graduation.