Each year the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) presents the Greater New Haven Torch of Liberty award to “outstanding citizens who contribute to building strong communities that are open to all people without regard to race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation.”  

Gateway Community College is proud to announce that President Dorsey L. Kendrick, Ph.D. is one of three distinguished recipients to be honored with the 2016 Torch of Liberty Award in a June 2 ceremony at Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden.

Representatives of New Haven ADL said that Dr. Kendrick' was selected for dedication to the community which is "motivated by her philosophy of equal access to education, Dr. Kendrick has made an indelible impression on the college and the greater New Haven community.  Fueled by her conviction that students deserve the very best learning environment possible, she led the charge to build a new campus in downtown New Haven –her crowning achievement!"

President Kendrick is honored to be among the distinguished recipients of the Torch of Liberty Award. "People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” she said, when asked for comment. "John C. Maxwell’s words remind us that honors and awards, while flattering and encouraging, are really a call to action. The challenge that we all face comes down to this: as long as there are children going to bed hungry at night, and crime infiltrates our neighborhoods, schools are underfunded, living-wage jobs are scarce, access to higher education is limited, injustice still prevails, and the American Dream is deferred, our work is not done.   It takes one person, two hands, two feet, a brain and a dream! As Dr. Martin Luther King reminds us, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I am grateful to the Anti-Defamation League for this powerful reminder that we must stay the course."

Dr. Kendrick receives this honor alongside Rabbi Herbert Brockman, Congregation  Mishkan Israel of Hamden and John Emra, President AT&T Connecticut.