Senator Booker takes a moment to pose with members of the Felician University community: John Cosme, president of Student Government Association; Sister M. Aquinas Szott, president of the Board of Trustees; Senator Booker; Reverend Richard Kelly, director of Campus Ministry; Howard Burrell, member of Council of Regents; and Dr. Anne Prisco, president.

Booker Recognized for Furthering the Legacy of Dr. King Through Initiatives in Education, Criminal Justice Reform, Job Creation and Economic Development.

Felician University presented Senator Cory Booker with its 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award.  Senator Booker accepted the award on Felician’s Rutherford campus at a ceremony marking the national holiday honoring Dr. King.

“Senator Booker’s exemplary service to the people of New Jersey is marked by a steadfast commitment to breaking through bipartisanship and reaching across the aisle to ensure that the dream of higher education, jobs and economic well being are realized by all people,” said Felician president, Dr. Anne Prisco.

“While it is truly humbling to be honored by Felician University today, I share this recognition with the thousands of ordinary Americans who stepped up with extraordinary courage to change the path of a nation,” said Senator. Booker.  “I applaud Felician for their tireless commitment to education, and look forward to continuing to work with great New Jersey institutions like theirs as we carry on Dr. King’s legacy and strive towards the dream of a more equal and just America.”

• The MLK Jr. Legacy Award was created by Felician University to honor Dr. King and to do so by recognizing individuals who strive to fulfill Dr. King’s dream of equality and justice.
• An individual whose life’s work reflects and promotes the University’s core values—especially passion for issues related to social justice, civil rights and economic equality
• A personal mission in life that also embodies the mission and values of the University’s Felician/Franciscan heritage—compassion, justice and peace, and finding goodness in all God’s creation
• A person who compels all people to give the gift of hope

“Higher education is all about hope,” Dr. Prisco said.  “Education breeds hope for a better and healthier life—a life of opportunity, productivity, prosperity, and perhaps most important, improving the world condition for generations yet to come.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke passionately of hope following the Selma march, declaring, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”