HONOLULU — Justice Sabrina S. McKenna received an honorary doctorate in Philosophy from Ryukyu University President Mutsumi Nishida prior to her keynote address at the March 17 symposium on How the Law Addresses DV.

This was only the 44th honorary doctorate in the universityʻs 74-year history, which was formed as a United States territorial university under the auspices of the Civil Administration of the Ryukyus in 1950, after World War II. Ryukyu is the major national University of Okinawa.

President Nishida told the audience that Justice McKenna has been lecturing to Ryukyu University law students annually since 2004 about the U.S. and Hawaii legal systems and laws regarding gender and LGBTQ issues.

Ryukyu University’s spring vacation Hawaii Law Study Tour with William S. Richardson School of Law began that same year and has since been joined by four other university Japanese law departments. President Nishida also mentioned Justice McKennaʻs several visits to Okinawa since 2009 to lecture on these subjects, including our laws on domestic violence.

Congratulations, Justice McKenna, on this well-deserved honor as you continue to educate law students and their professors on these important topics, and spread goodwill throughout the world.