For the first time in 160 years, Central Park has named one of its entrances. The entrance on Central Park North between Malcolm X Boulevard and Fifth Avenue is now known as the "Gate of the Exonerated." It is named after the Exonerated Five and others who have been wrongfully convicted.
Syracuse University community members welcomed a teary-eyed Kevin Richardson to a reception at the Community Folk Art Center on Sunday night.
Richardson was honored at a benefit reception for the Our Time Has Come Scholarship at SU, which supports underrepresented students. At the reception, SU announced the Kevin Richardson Fund, which will be part of the Our Time Has Come program.
Richardson was able to step foot on the campus he dreamed of attending as a kid.
“It’s surreal,” Richardson said moments before he was honored. “Just being here and being 44 and having that dream at (age) 14, and now I’m here. It’s mind-blowing.”
In 1989, Richardson and four other black and Latino teenagers — Korey Wise, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Yusef Salaam — were falsely accused and arrested for the rape of a woman jogging in Central Park. Richardson was 14 years old at the time of his wrongful conviction. It wasn’t until 2002, when the real perpetrator admitted to the crime, that the “Central Park Five” were exonerated. Now they’re known as The Exonerated Five.
“My mother always told me that one day the truth will come out,” Richardson said in a speech. “I am so thrilled that she is alive to be able to see it.”
Richardson expressed his interest in SU in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that was released in June. He was always a fan of SU basketball and dreamed of playing the trumpet in the university’s marching band.
After seeing the Oprah interview, SU political science major senior Jalen Nash started an online petition calling on the university to give Richardson an honorary degree. The petition has gained nearly 6,000 signatures, but the university has not indicated whether he will receive a degree. The process to get an honorary degree can take several months or up to a few years.
Students, faculty and community members gathered over hors d’oeurves and drinks at the CFAC to honor Richardson by presenting him with several tokens of appreciation. This event was held in partnership with SU’s Office of Multicultural Advancement; Rachel Vassel, assistant vice president of the office, organized and hosted the reception.
Vassel introduced several guests who then gave Richardson gifts to welcome him to the SU family. He received a customized “44” SU basketball jersey, a Yamaha trumpet and an award from the 2019-20 recipients of the Our Time Has Come scholarship.
Alumna Tara Favors, Class of 1995, also pledged $25,000 to a new scholarship in Richardson’s name.
“I don’t take anything for granted. I want to continue this legacy for years to come,” Richardson said in his speech. “If I’m not around, my name will still be here. My time has come.”
Read more: Kevin Richardson honored with scholarship in his name
A prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office will leave her post as a part-time lecturer at Columbia Law School amid controversy over her role in the wrongful conviction of five black and Latino teens, according to Bloomberg Law.
Elizabeth Lederer was one of two assistant district attorneys who prosecuted Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson and Korey Wise, the so-called “Central Park 5,” in the brutal 1989 assault and rape of a jogger in Central Park.
The school’s Black Law Students Association had called for Lederer’s dismissal over her role in the prosecution of the five teens, who served full prison sentences before their convictions were vacated in 2002 due to DNA evidence exonerating them and a confession from serial rapist Mattias Reyes.
Students unsuccessfully called on the university to remove Lederer in 2013, but public interest has been renewed in the case by the Netflix docudrama “When They See Us,” in which Lederer is played by Vera Farmiga.
Lederer informed the school of her decision not to seek reappointment late Wednesday, according to Law School Dean Gillian Lester.
“The mini-series has reignited a painful—and vital—national conversation about race, identity, and criminal justice,” Lester said in a statement, according to Bloomberg Law.
“I am deeply committed to fostering a learning environment that furthers this important and ongoing dialogue, one that draws upon the lived experiences of all members of our community and actively confronts the most difficult issues of our time,” she added.
