Wilbur Colom Honored in 2006

Colom Foundation founder Wilbur O. Colom received two important honors in 2006: He was a featured speaker at the Orrin G. Hatch Distinguished Trial Lawyer Lecture Series, and he was awarded the Black Business and Philanthropy Award by the National Center for Black Philanthropy.

In November of 2006, Colom delivered a lecture as part of the Brigham Young University School of Law’s Orrin G. Hatch Distinguished Trial Lawyer Lecture Series. Colom’s subject was “Why I Am a Trial Lawyer”. Rather than delivering a routine lecture on the ups and downs of the profession, however, Colom challenged the students to think about the forces shaping the legal industry today and the great issues that they must face, including the war of drugs, the war on terror, and the so-called culture wars.

Colom especially focused on the changes to the legal climate wrought by the war on terror, noting that lawmakers have made more drastic changes to American jurisprudence since Sept. 11 than were made during the Civil War or the Second World War.

He also analyzed recent legal decisions governing homosexual marriage rights, and asked the audience to consider the obvious failure of our war on drugs.

In September of 2006, the National Center for Black Philanthropy, in conjunction with the African-American Philanthropy Project, honored Colom with its Black Business and Philanthropy Award.

The NCBP gave the award at its Mid-South Conference on Philanthropy in Little Rock, Ark., in September of 2006. The award honors African-American businessmen who are also outstanding philanthropists.

The DC-based NCBP sponsored the conference to promote the understanding and development of philanthropy in the African-American community.

Visit the NCBP on-line.