How Title IX Shaped My Life
As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in public schools and universities, the Ala Moana Rotary Club is proud to host a speaker series on this all-important law.
Our first speaker is Judge Sabrina McKenna, who was one of the first beneficiaries of Title IX. As a member of the University of Hawaii Wahine Basketball team, her scholarship ensured her education and opened her eyes to a career in law. She graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1978 and from the William S. Richardson School of Law (WSRSL) in 1982.
She then worked as an associate at Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel, as Corporate Secretary and General Counsel to Otaka, Inc. (a Japan-based international business organization), as an Instructor in Business Law at UHM’s Shidler College of Business, and as an Assistant Professor at the WSRSL. She became a state District Court judge in 1993, then a Circuit Court judge in 1995, presiding over criminal, domestic violence, and civil cases, and served as Senior Judge of the Family Court on Oʻahu until her appointment to the Supreme Court in 2011.
Justice McKenna is a Judicial Advisory Board member of the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School's Law & Economics Center Judicial Education Program and lectures throughout the world on various topics. Her honors include the American Bar Association Stonewall Award, the National Asian Pacific Bar Association Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award, designation as an Association of Corporate Counsel Foundation Global Women in Law & Leadership Honoree, designation by the Jindal Global Law School (Delhi) as an Eminent Jurist and Honorary Adjunct Faculty Member, the Hawaii Women Lawyers Outstanding Judicial Achievement Award, and the University of Hawaiʻi Distinguished Alumnus Award. She is a mother of three adult children. She enjoys karaoke, walking for exercise, travel, and hanging out with her children and friends.
>> More about Title IX
>> Star Advertiser article about Justice McKenna
>> Reserve and pay for your meal (Assagioʻs Restaurant)
>> Email MaryAnn Berry if you prefer to pay by check or in person
>> Join us via Zoom