The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) established the HACU Hall of Champions to honor those who embody the mission of the Association through exemplary efforts “To Champion Hispanic Success in Higher Education.” The seventh inductee into the HACU Hall of Champions is Cruz Reynoso, who was honored on October 12, 2015 during HACU’s 29th Annual Conference.
The Honorable Cruz Reynoso is a Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of California Davis and was the inaugural holder of the Law School’s Boochever and Bird Chair for the Study and Teaching of Freedom and Equality. The chair recognizes outstanding scholarship and teaching, along with a commitment to preserving and expanding the understanding of “the virtues necessary of a great republic.”
A former Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, Reynoso is recognized for his leadership in civil rights, immigration and refugee policy, government reform, the administration of justice, legal services for the indigent and education.
Reynoso has served as Vice Chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, as well as a member of the Select Commission on Immigration and Human Rights.
In 2000, President Bill Clinton honored Cruz Reynoso with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, for his lifelong devotion to public service. Reynoso has also been honored with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Hispanic Heritage Award in Education and the American Bar Association’s Robert J. Kutak and Spirit of Excellence Awards, for his significant contributions toward increased cooperation between legal education, the practicing bar, and the judiciary. He has been awarded the UC Davis Medal, the university’s highest honor. He is the recipient of the Hispanic National Bar Association’s (HNBA) highest honor; the Lincoln-Juarez Award is named after Abraham Lincoln and Benito Juarez, the presidents of the United States and Mexico, contemporaries, both lawyers who fought injustice.
UC Davis School of Law has established the Cruz & Jeannene Reynoso Scholarship for Legal Access in his name to help students with financial needs. Education: A.B., Pomona College 1953; LL.B., UC Berkeley 1958.