By Walter Villa, Special to STU
Thirty-eight years.
That is how long it has been since The Honorable Judge Spencer J. Ludington stepped foot on the St. Thomas University campus.
Judge Ludington returned last Thursday as he was one of 52 current or retired judges who were honored by STU’s Benjamin L. Crump College of Law.
All 52 of those judges are graduates of STU’s College of Law, and their portraits are now prominently displayed inside the Ken Feldman Center for Student Affairs.
Judge Ludington flew down from Syracuse to take part in the unveiling ceremony for the Judicial Wall of Honor.
“I was blown away by the fact that they put my picture on the wall,” said Ludington, who works in New York’s Fifth Judicial Circuit and is also an acting member of his state’s Supreme Court. “I’ve never had such an honor.”
Ludington was part of STU’s first graduating class from its College of Law – way back in 1987.
The other two members of that ’87 class who became judges were: The Honorable Judge John Barclay Bowman, who works in Florida’s 17th Judicial Circuit Court, and The Honorable Judge Samuel Joseph Slom, who is now retired but worked in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court.
Slom, by the way, was the first STU graduate ever to become a judge.
Judge Ludington indicated it was a bit of a leap of faith for that charter class at STU.
“The school wasn’t even built when we started here,” Ludington said. “We were in a building over there, a conference center.”
Ludington said that class of aspiring lawyers started with 200 students … but ended up with just 99 graduates. “They were trying to show the American Bar Association that we were a serious law school,” Ludington said. “That 1987 class took a beating, to be honest. So many students didn’t make it to graduation.
It was hard. We didn’t get accredited until after I left. I didn’t know if I could even become a lawyer after spending three years of my hard-earned money studying my you-know-what off. But we got accredited. I passed the bar, and the rest is history.”
Indeed, it all worked out for Judge Ludington, who left campus in 1987 with some of that true grit STU law school students have become known for over the past few decades.
“Graduating from STU was the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life,” Ludington said. “But I’m happy to be on the other side of it.”
If Judge Ludington is happy, then the Honorable Georgina Picos, Class of 1991, was positively beaming on Thursday as her portrait went up on STU’s Judicial Wall of Honor.
Picos, a judge for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, attended the unveiling ceremony with her daughter, Isabella Alonso, who works in marketing.
“I’m in shock,” Judge Picos said when asked about how STU has grown since she was a student.
“I live in Houston. I haven’t been back to STU since I graduated. I’m super proud of how it has grown and the history behind this school.”
Alonso is also proud … of her mother.
“I’ve always known her as a hard-working woman,” Alonso said. “She has put her family first. But her career was right next to her family.
“The amount of success she has had has been amazing, and I’m glad she’s here to be honored.”
The Honorable Christopher Benjamin, Class of 2001, was another judge honored on Thursday.
Judge Benjamin, who works in Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, said he loved his time at STU.
“It was personalized education,” Benjamin said. “I got to know my professors, and I served in leadership in student organizations.”
Judge Benjamin, who is Black, said he was thrilled when STU’s College of Law was named after Benjamin L. Crump.
“I’m friends with Ben, and he is probably the only living Black male attorney who has a law school named after him,” Benjamin said. “It’s an incredible achievement. It’s even better that St. Thomas decided to recognize that achievement. It’s a great look for the school.
“To see Ben contribute to the school in that way and have his name in front of the building – it’s a good feeling.”
Judge Benjamin also said he has been invited to come back to STU to mentor students, and he is looking forward to giving back to his alma mater.
That is music to the ears of the Honorable Tarlika Nunez-Navarro, who became the Dean of STU’s Benjamin L. Crump College of Law in July of 2023.
Nunez-Navarro, a former judge and STU graduate whose portrait was one of the 52 unveiled on Thursday, said she loves to see alumni giving back to their school.
“That’s the idea – for them to come back and give back,” Nunez-Navarro said. “I’m constantly asking for mentors.
For our alumni, I say: Take an intern from St. Thomas. Teach them. Groom them. Inspire them.”
The Judicial Wall of Honor was a collaboration of our faculty and staff including Ana Isabel Vallejo, STU’s Assistant Dean of Experiential Learning & Administration.
“I’m so happy with the way the event turned out,” said Vallejo, who graduated from STU’s College of Law in 1998 and also earned a Master of Laws degree from STU in Intercultural Human Rights.
“It was touching to see all the judges return to campus, many of them with their families. It was an honor to help put this together.”
Nunez-Navarro said it is important to honor STU’s alumni judges.
“We have the largest cadre of Latina judges in the nation,” Nunez-Navarro said proudly. “We have a dynamic group of individuals at STU. More importantly, the Judicial Wall of Honor will inspire our students. Our students are in these halls every day. The faces they will see on our Judicial Wall of Honor are of all different colors and backgrounds.
Our great hope is that our students can seem themselves in these faces on the wall and become inspired to achieve great things in their own careers.”
