Professional Achievement Award

Jeffery P. Robinson, Arts ’78
Seattle, Wash.

At an age when many people might be preparing to retire, Jeffery Robinson founded The Who We Are Project, which grapples with the history of anti-Black racism in the United States, promoting education, public conversation, healing, and change.

The project comes after a notable legal career of more than 40 years, in which Jeffery served as a public defender in Washington state, a criminal defense lawyer in private practice for nearly three decades, and as an American Civil Liberties Union’s deputy legal director leading the work for criminal justice and racial justice. He has tried more than 200 criminal cases to verdict and more than a dozen civil cases representing plaintiffs suing corporate and government entities. He credits his undergraduate years at Marquette for setting the stage for this work. “My studies helped refine my skills and make me a better lawyer,” he says.

His latest project began with a 2021 feature-length documentary film, Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, which premiered in theaters in 2022, was streaming on Netflix, and is now available on other streaming services and DVD. He is currently working to produce educational content “that continues the mission of the movie.”

One of the gifts of his Marquette education is the lifelong friendships he made on campus. Jeffery says receiving this award makes him proud to be a Marquette graduate. “It is an acknowledgement of the importance of dealing with our true history of anti-Black racism, and how far we have to go as institutions, universities, and as a country,” he says.

Fun Facts:

Name someone (past or present) with whom you'd like to have dinner.
The members of the band Arcade Fire.

Name a Marquette faculty member who had an impact on you.
Fr. Virgil Blum, who taught Introduction to Constitutional Law.

Leave a congratulatory message for Jeffery!