Suffolk Law Professor's Gift Launches Civil Rights Program

Major donation will bring prominent civil rights practitioners and scholars to campus
Professor Emeritus Karen Blum
Professor Emerita Karen Blum

Professor Emerita Karen Blum, JD ’74, has made a $2 million gift to Suffolk—the largest faculty or staff donation in the University’s history—to establish the Karen Frankel Blum Distinguished Visitorship in Civil Rights Law.

Blum has spent more than five decades immersed in the areas that first drew her to the law: civil rights and the Constitution. As a Suffolk Law student, faculty member, and nationally recognized scholar, she has never strayed from those concerns.

Professor Blum’s gift will elevate the profile of civil rights studies at Suffolk by enriching the Law School curriculum and bringing prominent practitioners and scholars to campus. The endowed position will rotate annually, ensuring that students encounter a wide range of civil rights perspectives. Each year, the Distinguished Visitor will spend one semester teaching two Law School courses and delivering a public lecture. Dean Andrew Perlman recently announced the inaugural Distinguished Visitor: Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, who will teach during the winter intersession and spring semester of the 2026–27 academic year.

Professor Blum says that she wanted to introduce Suffolk Law students to “someone who is well recognized in the civil rights field and who has devoted their life to making things better.” The result, she hopes, will be “more students who become inspired to focus on civil rights for their careers.” For those pursuing other paths in law, Blum hopes “that many will take advantage of an extraordinary opportunity to learn from the Distinguished Visitor. I firmly believe that most students should be exposed to civil rights as a key element of constitutional law.”

Perlman, in announcing the gift, observed: “Karen has shaped this Law School for more than half a century as a teacher, scholar, mentor, and colleague. With this gift, she is shaping it for decades to come. Her commitment to civil rights law has been unwavering, and she is now ensuring that Suffolk Law will have an enduring commitment to the field while giving our students invaluable perspectives on the civil rights issues of our time."

“We’re profoundly moved by Karen’s generosity, and excited by the impact the Distinguished Visitor Program will have for our students,” said Suffolk University President Marisa Kelly. “Karen believes deeply that education has the power to change lives, and whole communities, for the better. Her remarkable gift is a testament to this belief, and a powerful example for us all.”

Blum’s commitment to civil rights is reflected in her stature as a national authority on Section 1983, the federal statute that empowers individuals to sue state and local officials for the violation of federal constitutional rights. The statute serves as an essential tool against police brutality, unlawful searches, and infringements on freedom of speech. She has published widely on Section 1983 and is co-author of the treatise Police Misconduct: Law and Litigation.

The Distinguished Visitor gift joins a record of Blum’s recent giving to the Law School, including:

  • $500,000 to endow the First Year Summer Internship Program (FYSIP), which Blum created in 2005 to give law students the career-building opportunity to serve as interns for judges and courts immediately after their first year. Roughly 80 students are placed in these internships annually.

  • $50,000 to the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, in which high school students study constitutional law and compete in a moot court competition guided by Suffolk Law students. “I can’t think of anything more important during these times,” Blum remarks, “than educating high school students about civil rights, remedies, and issues involving the first and fourth amendments.”

  • $50,000 for the Professor Karen Blum Legacy Fund, which provides scholarship support for Suffolk University Law School’s Legal Education Alternate Admission Program (LEAAP) and programmatic support for the Law School’s other inclusion initiatives. 

Her generosity has earned Professor Blum membership in Suffolk’s newly created Beacon Society, which recognizes lifetime faculty and staff giving of $20,000 or more. As the staff or faculty member who has given the most to Suffolk over the years, she is the Society’s leading member.

Although Blum retired from full-time teaching in 2017, her schedule remains demanding. She participates as faculty in Section 1983 civil rights programs and institutes around the country, and serves as a faculty member for workshops of the Federal Judicial Center, conducting training for federal judges and magistrate judges. She updates on a quarterly basis two large sets of materials covering Section 1983 and qualified immunity, materials that are accessed on the judicial education network by federal judges and law clerks. Blum is also an Adviser to the American Law Institute project on the Restatement of the Law: Constitutional Torts.

Outside of work, Blum makes time for theater and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, swimming, golf, and ice skating. She especially enjoys watching her grandsons play hockey.

Reflecting on her gift, Professor Blum hopes it will deliver a clear message to the broader community: “During this time when too many institutions and people are shrinking away from committing to the importance of civil rights, it’s vital for Suffolk to make clear that we’re not going to retreat.”