NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Football and lacrosse standout Kurt L. Schmoke '71 was honored with the Yale Alumni Association highest honor, the Yale Medal, which is awarded annually to members of the Yale family for their individual service to the university.
 
Since its inception, the Yale Medal has been presented to more than 300 individuals who have shown extraordinary devotion to the Yale's ideals and demonstrated their support through extensive, exemplary service to the university and its many schools, institutes, and programs.
 
Likewise, this year's recipients have made significant and lasting contributions to Yale and its alumni community, as civil rights trailblazers, shapers of the university in both form and function, and as contributors who have made Yale a more inclusive university – and who continue to guide its path today.
 
The 2020 Yale Medalists are Bruce D. Alexander '65, Rahul R. Prasad '84 MS, '87 PhD, Judith Ann Schiff, Kurt L. Schmoke '71, and Alice Young '71. They will be officially honored as part of the annual YAA Assembly and Yale Alumni Fund Convocation, to be held virtually later this year.
 
Regarded as a pioneer and a singular presence, Schmoke stands as one of Yale's true and enduring champions. As an undergraduate, he became the first Black secretary of a Yale College class and played a pivotal role in the creation of the Calvin Hill Day Care Center and as a campus leader during the 1970 May Day demonstrations, addressing both students and faculty in a brief, brilliant speech that bridged the gaps between the two.
 
This command presence, thoughtfulness, and ability to bring people together would serve the 1971 Rhodes Scholar well throughout his distinguished career as a politician and an educator, and those same traits have made him a powerful contributor as an alumni volunteer.
 
He would go on to become one of the youngest members of Yale's Board of Trustees and its first African American senior trustee. In addition, he has been a dedicated and generous steward for the university. His work and fundraising in collaboration with classmates were instrumental in the development of the Afro-American Cultural Center, and he has been active in supporting the 50th anniversaries of both the Afro-Am House and of women in Yale College, having graduated with the first class of undergraduate women at Yale.
 
He has also proven a steady hand in bolstering relations between Yale and the city of New Haven.
 
Schmoke is a 2007 recipient of the George H.W. Bush '48 Lifetime of Leadership Award, one of Yale athletics most distinguished honors.