Bennie and Candle Honorees 2024-1989

2024 Honorees
Dale Jones ‘82
Ray McGuire
Rev. Dr. Aaron Parker ‘75
John David Washington ‘06
Mack Wilbourn

2023 Honorees
Sanford Biggers ‘92
James W. Compton ‘61
David J. Grain
Courtney B. Vance
Terry L. Woodard ‘81

2022 Honorees
John K. “JK” Haynes, Ph.D. ‘64
Hon. Marc H. Morial
Paul S. “PJ” Morton Jr. ‘03
Charles E. Phillips
Judson W. Pickard Jr.
William “Bill” F. Pickard, Ph.D.*
Hon. Bakari T. Sellers, Esq. ‘05

2021 Honorees
Byron Allen
Kenneth C. Frazier
Robert “Rob” Gore, M.D. ‘98
Gordon L. Joyner ‘72
Darren Walker
Hon. Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock ‘91

2020 Honorees
Lonnie G. Bunch III
Lawrence E. Carter Sr., Ph.D.
Eddie Glaude, Ph.D. ‘89
Admiral Alvin Holsey ‘88
Adebayo Ogunlesi
Verdun Perry ‘94

2019 Honorees
F. DuBois Bowman, Ph.D. ‘92
N. Anthony Coles
Jeffrey Harleston
Norm Nixon
Steve Pamon ‘91
Ray M. Robinson

2018 Honorees
Emmett D. Carson ‘81
William M. Lewis Jr.
William T. McDaniel Jr. ‘67
Hon. Cedric I. Richmond ‘95
Oz Scott
Robert F. Smith (Hon. ‘19)

2017 Honorees
Theodore Colbert III ‘96
Tyler Perry
Jon Platt
Usher Raymond
Jonathan L. Walton ‘96

2016 Honorees
Hon. John Lewis*
Joseph L. Press ‘84
Christopher P. Reynolds, Esq.
Rufus H. Rivers ‘86
Richard Roundtree*

2015 Honorees
Robert J. Crews Jr.
Grant H. Hill
Paul Q. Judge ‘98
Thomas A. Moorehead
Eugene V. Wade Jr. ‘92

2014 Honorees
Donald L. Hense ‘70
Reginald C. Lindsay ‘67*
James H. Shelton III ‘89
John E. Williams, Ph.D. ‘69
Stevie Wonder

2013 Honorees
Charles F. Bolden
Ulysses L. Bridgeman Jr.
Laurence J. Fishburne
Milton J. Little Jr. ‘76
Calvin Mackie, Ph.D. ‘90
Willis B. Sheftall Jr., Ph.D. ‘64

2012 Honorees
Herman F. Bostick, Ph.D. ‘49*
Robert M. Franklin Jr., Ph.D. ‘75
Hon. Earl F. Hilliard ‘64
Calvin W. McLarin, M.D. ‘68*
Earl W. Stafford Sr.

2011 Honorees
Ronald R. Davenport Sr.
Curley M. Dossman ‘73
Morgan Freeman
Melvin D. Gerald, M.D. ‘64
William M. Jackson ‘56
Frank Robinson*
Donald V. Watkins
Harry S. Wright Sr. ‘53

2010 Honorees
Julius E. Coles ‘63
Lloyd Dean
Perry A. Henderson, M.D. ‘54
Freeman A. Hrabowski III, Ph.D.
Lonnie C. King ‘69
Antonio “L.A.” Reid
Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. ‘89

2009 Honorees
Ernest A. “Ernie” Bates, M.D.
Richard C. Caesar ‘40
Hon. J. Jerome Farris ‘51*
Arthur Lee Johnson ‘48*
Samuel Berry McKinney ‘49*
Charles David Moody ‘78
Hon. Charles “Charlie” Rangel
Tommie Smith

2008 Honorees
Alvin H. Crawford, M.D, FACS*
General James R. Hall ‘57
M. William Howard Jr. ‘68
Mack Roach, M.D. ‘75
William “Smokey” Robinson Jr.
Lloyd G. Trotter
Clinton Warner, M.D. ‘44

2007 Honorees
Amos C. Brown Sr. ‘64
Roscoe Lee Browne
Robert C. Davidson Jr. ‘67
Hon. Leroy R. Johnson ‘49
Joseph E. Lowery*
Alden J. McDonald Jr.
Sidney Poitier*

2006 Honorees
Alphonse Fletcher Jr.
Geoffrey Holder*
Butch Lewis*
Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D. ‘68
Gordon Parks*
Hon. Albert J. Price ‘50*
Thomas G. Sampson ‘68
Augustus A. White III, M.D.

2005 Honorees
Reginald Davis ‘84
Berry Gordy
Richard O. Hope ‘61*
Charles J. McDonald, Ph.D.
Charles J. Ogletree*
Herman J. Russell*
Gerald L. Truesdale, M.D. ‘71*
James O. Webb ‘53

2004 Honorees
Hon. Sanford D. Bishop Jr. ‘68
Howard H. Carey ‘57*
Ossie Davis*
Jesse Hill Jr.*
Tom Joyner
LaSalle D. Lefall Jr.*
Oprah Winfrey (Hon. ‘89)
Isaac Willis ‘61*

2002 Honorees
Charles Gilchrist Adams*
Hon. William H. Gray III*
Tobe Johnson Jr., Ph.D. ‘54*
William “Bill” G. Nunn III ‘76*
James H. Sills Jr. ‘55
Artis A. White, M.D. ‘51*
August Wilson*

2001 Honorees
Harry Belafonte*
Ray Charles*
Ezra C. Davidson Jr. ‘54*
Dick Gregory*
Charles “Chuck” H. James III ‘81*
Hon. Howard F. Jeter ‘70
C.T. Vivian*
Hon. Horace T. Ward ‘49*

2000 Honorees
Cameron Alexander ‘59*
Herman Cain ‘67*
Tony Dorsett
Bernard Harris
Robert L. Mallett ‘79
Charles D. Watts Sr. ‘38*
Clifton R. Wharton

1998 Honorees
H. Julian Bond ‘71*
George W. Haley ‘49*
Frederick E. Mapp ‘32*
Joseph E. Marshall Jr.
Alvin F. Poussaint, Ph.D.
John Silvanus Wilson Jr. ‘79

1997 Honorees
Dennis F. Hightower
Donald R. Hopkins ‘62
Major R. Owens ‘56*
Bernard Shaw*
Maceo K. Sloan ‘71

1996 Honorees
Joe Adams*
Henry W. Foster Jr. M.D. ‘54*
Samuel L. Jackson ‘72
Robert E. Johnson ‘48*
James King Jr. ‘53*
Hobert Kornegay, D.D.S. ‘45*

1995 Honorees
Derrick Albert Bell Jr.*
Samuel DuBois Cook, Ph.D. ‘48*
Hugh Morris Gloster, Ph.D. ‘31*
J. Eugene Grigsby ‘38*
Samuel Milton Narit ‘25*
Hon. Andrew J. Young

1994 Honorees
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
A. Leon Higginbotham Jr.*
Hon. Maynard Holbrook Jackson ‘56*
Edwin Moses ‘78
Sinbad
Cornell West
Charles V. Willie ‘48*

1993 Honorees
Arthur Ashe
Griffith Jerome Davis ‘47*
Arthur Johnson ‘68
Kenny Leon
J.O.B. Moseley ‘29*
Samuel Proctor*
Roy Terry ‘66 and Rudolph Terry ‘69
Reggie White*

1992 Honorees
Robert H. Brisbane*
Clarence “Kappa” Brown ‘40*
George H. Clements
I. Owen Funderberg ‘48*
Louis Gossett Jr.*
Walter E. Massey, Ph.D. ‘58
Roy S. Roberts

1991 Honorees
Nathaniel H. Bronner ‘40*
Kenneth I. Chenault (Hon. ‘20)
Hon. George W. Crockett Jr. ‘31*
John Hope Franklin, Ph.D.*
Otis Moss Jr. ‘56
Robert L. Toney*
Edward B. Williams ‘27*

1989 Honorees
Hon. Benjamin Carson, M.D.
Henry Louis Gates Jr., Ph.D.
Danny Glover
Fred A. Gorden
Vincent “Bo” Jackson
George R. Lewis
Eugene A. Marino*
Roderic Pettigrew, Ph.D. ‘72
Hon. Kurt Schmoke
Otis Smith, M.D. ‘47*
Hon. Louis Sullivan M.D. ‘54