White Plains, N. Y. – September 22, 2003 -- The Women’s Justice Center (WJC) of Pace University School of Law will honor all-American football player Don McPherson, Audrey E. Stone, Esq., and law school Dean David Cohen at A Celebration of Justice for Women, the Center’s annual benefit dinner, to be held at Abigail Kirsch at Tappan Hill in Tarrytown on Thursday, October 2.

"We are proud to honor these exceptionally talented advocates of justice for women," said Victoria L. Lutz, executive director of the WJC. "In the United States a woman is battered by a man – usually an intimate partner—every 15 seconds, raped every two minutes, and murdered by a spouse or boyfriend every six hours. This is not a women’s issue; it is a human issue."

Don McPherson, ex-Syracuse quarterback and Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Oilers pro-football player, is organizing men to take a stand on violence against women. Don McPherson’s national training agenda addresses violence from a gender perspective, examining masculinity and the social pressures placed on men and boys to develop, participate in, and sanction violent behavior. Mr. McPherson is the executive director of the Adelphi University Sports Leadership Institute, where he works daily with students, athletes, and young men to change the culture that cultivates abuse. He has served as consultant for the Justice Department’s Agenda for the Nation on Violence Against Women. His book, Throw Like a Girl, will be released later this year. Mr. McPherson will receive the Creative Vision for Women’s Justice Award for his hard work and perseverance in getting men to take responsibility in the fight against violence against women.

For her dedicated work in the courts on behalf of women and children, Audrey E. Stone, Esq. will accept the Diane White Legal Advocacy Award. Ms. Stone is the former director of the Pace Women’s Justice Center and is an adjunct professor of law at Pace. During her 6+ years at the Center she played a pivotal role in the creation of most of the Center’s major initiatives. Her many publications on domestic violence include: Criminalizing the Exposure of Children to Family Violence: Breaking the Cycle of Abuse, and soon to be published book, Designing and Implementing Domestic Violence Courts (Civic Research Institute).

Dean David Cohen, who will receive the Gail Katz Memorial Award, has been an active member of the Friends of Gail WJC’s Advisory Board, since its creation in 1999. Dean Cohen is a living memorial to the memory of Gail Katz, who was murdered by her abusive husband almost 20 years ago but only convicted of that crime in the year 2000. Dean Cohen’s institutional and personal support has allowed the Center to expand its services to hundreds of clients and simultaneously to dozens of law school students each year.

Dean Cohen came to Pace four and a half years ago after having served as Dean of the University of Victoria, Canada, Faculty of Law. He teaches in areas of law and regulatory policy, contract law, and law and economics. He has written in a range of areas including governmental liability, product safety regulation, dispute resolution and environmental policy.

Prior to the dinner, the silent auction in the pavilion promenade will offer more than 100 donated items, including a four-day stay at a luxury hotel in the Grand Bahamas, golf outings at Wingfoot and the Westchester Country Club, catered parties in your home, jewelry, dinners for two at many popular Westchester restaurants, and tickets to sporting events.

Proceeds from the dinner and silent auction support the Women’s Justice Center, a non-profit organization that annually conducts trainings for thousands of judges, law enforcement officers, attorneys, and law students. The WJC has pioneered the 24/7 provision of legal services to battered women by partnering with police departments and hospitals, so that victims of domestic violence can receive legal services when they need them most, even at 2 o’clock in the morning. Each year the WJC provides direct representation to more than 1,500 victims of domestic violence and their children. Annually, the WJC conducts more than 100 domestic violence, elder abuse, sexual assaults, and other training programs. It also has produced public service announcements for the Violence Against Women’s Office of the federal government concerning domestic violence, written judicial training manuals, and published many articles on gender violence. Its help lines address over 1,200 calls per year.

Tables are available from $1,500 to $10,000. Individual tickets are $150.

For reservations or more information about the dinner, please contact Judy Russo at (914) 422-4424, or judyrusso@law.pace.edu.

Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is a New York Law School with a suburban campus in White Plains, N.Y., 20 miles north of New York City. Part of Pace University, the school offers the J.D. program for full-time and part-time day and evening students. Its postgraduate program includes the LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees in Environmental Law and an LL.M. in Comparative Legal Studies. Pace has one of the nation's top-rated Environmental Law programs and its Clinical Education program also is nationally ranked, offering clinics in domestic violence prosecution, environmental law, securities arbitration, criminal justice and disability rights. www.law.pace.edu 

Pace is a comprehensive, independent university with campuses in New York City, Pleasantville and White Plains, NY and a Hudson Valley Center at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, NY. More than 14,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lubin School of Business, School of Computer Science and Information Systems, School of Education, Lienhard School of Nursing and Pace Law School. www.pace.edu