100 YEARS
THE OMICRON CHAPTER CENTENNIAL
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while serving his country in Vietnam on November 30, 1965. Pannell was a track star for Manhattan College in both the high hurdles and the high jump. The Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame Web site includes the following on Pannell: Pannell “won the 60-yard high hurdles at the IC4A Championships and the high jump at the indoor Met's in 1962. Won the 60-yard high hurdles, the long jump, and the high jump at the indoor Met's, and the high jump at the outdoor Met's in 1963. High jump champion at the 1964 indoor Met's and in the 120- yard high hurdles at the outdoor Met's. Senior co-captain. Entered the Marine Corps after college and lost his life in active duty in Vietnam.” The Honorable Leland George De- Grasse (Omicron 1965) graduated from St. John’s University in 1967 with a de- gree in Spanish and in 1972 graduated cum laude from Howard University Law School. He was an active member of the New York (NY) Alumni Chapter. DeGrasse is best known for being the trial judge who, in a landmark decision, ruled against New York State’s system for financing public schools in the case known as Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State. His decision was appealed to the New York Court of Appeals, which ulti- mately ordered an additional $1.9 billion in state aid annually for New York City’s schools. DeGrasse’s brilliant decision improved the quality of education for millions of New York City public school children. In 1985 he was elected Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York, and three years later was elected a State Su- preme Court justice. In 2008, Governor David A. Paterson appointed Justice De- Grasse to the Appellate Division, First Department, where he served until he retired from the bench in 2015. Justice DeGrasse had served as president of the Supreme Court Justices Association of the City of New York in 2003 and as president of the Supreme Court Justices
U.S. Army paratrooper in the 82nd Air- borne Division and piloted helicopters. He later became a member of the 101 st Airborne Division. Brown is the highest-ranking Black official in the State of Kentucky. He is Secretary of the Executive Cabinet of the State of Kentucky, reporting directly to Governor Andy Beshear. Brother Brown has served as Deputy Attorney General for the State of Kentucky and Secretary of Kentucky’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. Before that, he served as a district court judge in Jeffer- son County and law director for the City of Louisville, Assistant Commonwealth Attorney, and on the Board of the Louis- ville Regional Airport Authority. He was a partner at the law firms of Stites and Harbison and also Wyatt, Tarrant, and Combs. He is a former board member of Republic Bank and several Louisville-ar- ea civic groups and non-profit organiza- tions, including Metro United Way and the Louisville chapter of the American Red Cross. He was elected the first African American president of the Lou- isville Bar Association and chaired the Kentucky Bar Association’s Task Force on Minorities. He is a current member of KBA’s Ethics Committee and has served as a member of the University of Louisville Board of Overseers and the Board of Directors of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. In 2015, he received the Nelson Mandela Award from the Department of Public Advocacy.
Association of the State of New York in 2002.
Basil A. Paterson (Omicron 1946) graduated in 1948 with a B.S. degree in biology from St. John’s University. His time in college was interrupted when he was called to active military duty during World War II. He later earned his J.D. from St. John’s Law School in 1951. He was an active member of New York Alumni. Paterson was very active in politics with the Democratic Party during the 1950s and 1960s. He was a labor lawyer who became a New York State Senator from Harlem. He later became Secretary of State under Governor Hugh Carey. Paterson’s son, David Paterson, served as Governor of New York from 2008 to 2010. A longtime member of the New York (NY) Alumni, Paterson was a member of what was popularly called “The Gang of Four,” the dynamic young Black politi- cians of the Harlem Clubhouse who included: David Dinkins (who became the first Black person elected Mayor of New York City); Percy Sutton (New York (NY) Alumni 1971); and U.S. Congress- man Charles Rangel. Ernest T. Hemby (Xi 1920) was a tal- ented and celebrated singer and served as Omicron’s polemarch. He honed his skills during two years of vocal study in Italy. Hemby rendered songs in English, French, Italian, and German.
John Michael Brown (Omicron 1967) with Vice President Kamala Harris. Brother Brown was among the Kentucky Governor's delegation who greeted the Vice President upon her landing in Kentucky as she traveled to promote President Biden's American Rescue Plan in early May 2021. John Michael “Mike” Brown (Omicron 1967), a past Polemarch of Omicron, gradu- ated from the C.C.N.Y. with a B.S. in political science. He later earned a J.D. from the University of Louisville. Brown served as
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