Who is on the horizon?

At the 2025 Alumni Forum, Chief Magistrate Judge Karen Stevenson ’79 challenged the more than 700 attendees not to look for heroes to enact change.

“Nobody’s coming. We’re it. All of us are it,” the alumna said at the Mazzocchi Alumni Dinner in Chapel Hill on October 18, 2025.

Speaking from her experience on the federal bench in Los Angeles, Karen shared her thoughts on current challenges facing American institutions, connected them to historical struggles for civil rights, and issued a direct challenge: the responsibility to build a more perfect union falls on each of us. She called on the Morehead-Cain community to lead with courage, kindness, and generosity.

“I dare to say no one is coming to extricate us from this existential moment,” the judge said. “This one is on us to lead, to act with integrity, to care for our neighbors, to move with compassion in the world, and take right action.”

Watch the keynote address on Morehead-Cain’s YouTube channel.

Karen is a member of the first class of women Morehead-Cain Scholars. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and co-author of Rutter Group Practice Guide: Federal Civil Procedure Before Trial.

The judge was honored at the 2024 Morehead-Cain Black Alumni Reunionin Chapel Hill, alongside the first Black graduate of the Program, Harvey Kennedy ’74.

Karen and Harvey were also honored at the Forum by the unveiling of a commissioned portrait of the pair on October 17, 2025. The painting, by Durham-based artist William Paul Thomas, is on display at the Morehead-Cain Foundation.