John Carroll University will host a lecture given by three local African American judges on March 15, 7 p.m., in JCU’s D.J. Lombardo Student Center Conference Room. They will share their perspectives on topics such as their philosophies on life, why they entered the legal profession, the obstacles they have faced in their profession and how they combated them, and what life has been like after retirement.

Participating will be Judge Lillian Walker Burke, Jean Murrell Capers and Sara J. Harper. Judge Burke’s careers include wife, mother, teacher, trial lawyer, assistant to Ohio’s Attorney General and municipal court judge. She is currently retired and serving many nonprofit organizations in Cleveland. Judge Capers was the first African American woman in the United States to be elected to city council, and her law practice has included appointments to the City Prosecutor’s office, the Attorney General’s staff and Cleveland Municipal Court. Judge Harper was the first female military judge in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and one of two black women elected to the Ohio Court of Appeals, 8^th Appellate District.

The moderator of this event will be Eleanor Hayes, whose career began in Cleveland radio and television reporting. She was appointed by Mayor Michael White to serve as chairperson of the city’s Private Industry Council and to serve as a member of his Task Force on Minority Recruitment for the City’s Safety Forces. She also owns and operates the McDonald’s Restaurant at University Circle, and started the McDonald’s at the Great Lake’s Science Center that featured new technology in the McDonald’s industry.

For more information, contact John Carroll’s Office of Multicultural Affairs at 216-397-4185.

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