Andrews Kurth Receives Major League Baseball’s Jackie Robinson Award

(Houston, Texas)—Andrews Kurth is pleased to announce that the law firm is a recipient of the 8th Annual Jackie Robinson Day “Most Valuable Diverse Business Partner (MVDBP)” Award from Major League Baseball (MLB), acknowledging the firm’s ongoing commitment to excellence and diversity.

The Jackie Robinson Day MVDBP Award is a key element of MLB’s Diverse Business Partners Program, which was established in 1998 by Baseball Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig as a nationwide initiative to cultivate new and existing partnerships between minority and women-owned businesses and MLB. This year, Major League Baseball expanded the Award to include an organization that is not minority or women-owned, but that has exemplified exceptional diversity and inclusion leadership. Andrews Kurth will be the inaugural beneficiary of this expanded recognition.

“We are humbled by this incredible honor,” says Elizabeth Campbell, Andrews Kurth Partner and Chief Diversity Officer. “Diversity and inclusion are core values. We are proud that our work in this area has resulted in this recognition.”

Andrews Kurth maintains a comprehensive diversity and inclusion strategy supported by a team of diverse individuals and programs, processes and resources that create a positive experience for clients, the community and the firm’s attorneys and staff members.

Firm representatives will formally receive the Award on Tuesday, April 15, 2014, which is Jackie Robinson Day throughout Major League Baseball, at Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, before the team’s game against the Kansas City Royals. Additionally, the firm's managing partner, Bob Jewell, will throw out the First Pitch of the game.

This year marks the 67th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier. Throughout his career, Robinson won the Rookie of the Year Award and the 1949 National League Most Valuable Player Award. He played in six World Series and earned six consecutive All-Star selections prior to his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2004, Commissioner Selig announced that every April 15^th would be designated “Jackie Robinson Day” to honor the enduring impact of Robinson’s legacy on baseball and American society. On this day, all MLB players, coaches and umpires wear his Number 42. In 1997, Commissioner Selig ensured that Robinson’s uniform Number 42 would be retired in perpetuity throughout Major League Baseball. In recognition of his accomplishments on and off the field, Mr. Robinson posthumously received a Congressional Gold Medal in 2005 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984.

As released by the former Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP