Denise Carty-Bennia Memorial Bar Awards Reception

The 29th Annual Denise Carty-Bennia Memorial Bar Awards Reception was held on Wednesday, May 18, 2022 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m, in the Moot Courtroom, 160 Dockser.

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Congratulations to the 2022 Denise Carty-Bennia Bar Memorial Award Winners:
Antonio Coronado ’22
Nicholas Nava ’22
Danae Rosario ’22
Bavani Sridhar ’22
Mahathi Vemireddy ’22
Simone Yhap ’22

Keynote Speaker
The Reverend Willie Bodrick II ’20
Senior Pastor, Historic Twelfth Baptist Church

The Reverend Willie Bodrick II ’20 is the senior pastor of the Historic Twelfth Baptist Church (TBC) in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. Bodrick leads with dynamic preaching, insightful teaching and gospel-driven social engagement in the community and throughout the country. He is the fourteenth senior pastor of the church which recently celebrated 182 years as a congregation and 217 years since the founding of its mother church the African Meeting House.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bodrick and TBC led vaccine education efforts, donated more than $375,000 to community members and organizations, and partnered with Boston Medical Center to establish the TBC Vaccination Clinic which vaccinated over 2,435 people. TBC also feed over 15,000 residents last year through the Food Pantry and special programming, as well as supporting an orphanage in Rotan, Honduras, and a school in Liberia which provided food and resources for clean water.

Bodrick was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. While at Northeastern University School of Law he served as the 1L chairperson of the Black Law Student Association during his first year and as the chapter’s treasurer during his second year. He has served as a judicial clerk intern in the chambers of the Honorable Judge Denise J. Casper at the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He was also appointed to the transition team steering committee for the Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins. Afterward, he was the Vertex Legal Intern in the Global Litigation Division at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and later a law clerk at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Bodrick worked as a summer associate and law clerk at Brown Rudnick. He also served as senior advisor for the successful 2020 Ed Markey Campaign for the US Senate. Bodrick has previously served as the outreach coordinator in the Community Engagement Division of the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General Maura Healey ’98.

Bodrick serves as president of the Boston Network for Black Student Achievement, a member of the Boston Public Schools Opportunity and Achievement Gap Taskforce, a member of the board of directors of Massachusetts Advocates for Children, member of the Boston Medical Center Accelerator Community Advisory Committee (ACAC), co-founder of the Forward Fund, The Boston Foundation and Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Advisory Committee, and on the board of advisors of the Roxbury YMCA.

Bodrick is a member of the Boston Branch of the NAACP, the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, Georgetown University Alumni Club of Greater Boston, THL, and the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. He has been featured in USA Today, New York Times, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Commonwealth Magazine, NPR, The Bay State Banner and other media outlets.

Bodrick has also received numerous awards including the 2019 Fletcher “Flash” Wiley Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association Legacy Scholarship Award, the 2019 Citizens for Public Schools Champion for Education Justice Award, Northeastern University Huntington 100, 2020 Eta Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Citizen of the Year Award, and the 2020 First District of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Citizen of the Year Award. Most recently, Bodrick was named The Boston Foundation 20 Leaders of the 2020s, the 2021 Boston Business Journal (BBJ) 40 Under 40 Award, and the 2021 Boston Chamber of Commerce and City Awake Ten Outstanding Young Leaders Award.

Bodrick lives in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston with his wife, Dr. Devin Cromartie Bodrick, and their son Willie Bodrick, III.

Professor Denise Carty-Bennia was a highly successful attorney and tireless educator, advisor, mentor, and friend to countless Northeastern law students. She was dedicated to the pursuit of academic excellence and the expansion of opportunities for people of color. Professor Carty-Bennia's untimely death in 1990 created a void for many who knew her and her work.

Each year, as the applications for this award are reviewed, it is inspiring to see that so many Northeastern law students have dedicated themselves to improving the social and political issues that affect our communities as she did. Professor Carty-Bennia's dedication survives in the memories of those who knew and worked with her and lives on in those who choose to pursue a similar dream.