Constance Slaughter-Harvey, former Assistant Secretary of State and General Counsel, is founder and president of Legacy Education and Community Empowerment Foundation, Inc. Slaughter-Harvey was the first African American female to receive a law degree from the University of Mississippi and first female African American to serve as judge in Mississippi. The Black Law Student Association at the University of Mississippi School of Law was named in her honor and she received the Law School’s Public Service Award, becoming the first female and first African American to be so honored. She was adjunct professor at Tougaloo College for more than 36 years. She is Scott County Bar president and Scott County Youth Court prosecutor.
She is the recipient of ABA’s Margaret Brent Award and Mississippi Bar’s Susie Buchanan Award, which are the highest honors bestowed on female attorneys; the R. Jess Award, National Legislative Black Caucus Nation Builder Award, and Woman Lawyer of the Year. Slaughter-Harvey is a life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Magnolia Bar Association/Foundation, National Bar Association, American Bar Foundation, Mississippi Bar Foundation, NAACP and Girl Scouts. She was inducted into the Halls of Fame for Tougaloo College, National Bar Association and University of Mississippi School of Law. She is featured in a documentary, “Standing on My Sisters’ Shoulders,” which received honors and recognition at the Kennedy Center in New York in 2004. She received The Rabbi Perry Nussbaum Civil Justice Award in 2016 and the 2016 Heritage Award.
She is the mother of Constance Olivia Burwell (James) and the grandmother of James A. Emmanuel “Tre'” Burwell III.
Created in 1974, the Hall of Fame honors select alumni who have made an outstanding contribution to their country, state or the University of Mississippi through good deeds, services or contributions that have perpetuated the good name of Ole Miss.
Inductees into the Alumni Hall of Fame for 2016 are: David E. Brevard (BA 78) of Tupelo; James L. Cox, M.D. (63) of Atlanta; Thomas C. Meredith (EDD 71) of Oxford; Thomas J. “Sparky” Reardon (BAEd 72, PhD 00) of Oxford; and Constance Slaughter-Harvey (JD 70) of Forest.
T. Michael Glenn (BBA 77) of Memphis will receive the Alumni Service Award for service to the University and the Alumni Association over an extended period. Patrick Woodyard (BA 10) of Nashville, Tennessee, will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, which recognizes alumni who have shown exemplary leadership throughout their first 15 years of alumni status in both their careers and dedication to Ole Miss.