Princeton dedicated Sonia Sotomayor Hall in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Class of 1976, and unveiled a portrait of the Justice by Paul Newton that will join the University’s permanent art collection. Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber (left) listens as Justice Sotomayor addresses the audience at the April 11 ceremony. Photo by Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications.
Princeton University dedicated Sonia Sotomayor Hall in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Class of 1976, at a ceremony in Chancellor Green on April 11. The University also unveiled a portrait of Justice Sotomayor that will be added to Princeton’s campus art collection.
“I am deeply touched to have my name become a permanent part of Princeton,” Justice Sotomayor said. “Thank you, Princeton, for all I have become and for all the good your generations of students have brought into this world. My heart is bursting today with joy and gratitude.”
President Christopher L. Eisgruber called it “an exciting and historic day for Princeton.”
“With this portrait and naming, your remarkable legacy will be memorialized on this campus for generations to come,” Eisgruber told Justice Sotomayor before she cut the ceremonial ribbon for Sonia Sotomayor Hall. “We are forever grateful for the transformative contributions you have made to the nation and to humanity and for the inspiration you have been to so many of us.”
Earlier in the day, Justice Sotomayor joined Eisgruber for a wide-ranging conversation about her extraordinary life and career during a special program for students at Richardson Auditorium.
Justice Sotomayor has served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2009. She is the first justice of Hispanic heritage and the third woman justice in Supreme Court history. She is also a former Princeton trustee.
Sonia Sotomayor Hall dedication, portrait unveiling
At the dedication and portrait unveiling, Justice Sotomayor expressed her immense gratitude to the Princeton professors, mentors, administrators, classmates and friends — many of whom were in the audience — who made her experience on campus so meaningful and who continue to shape her life today.
“My unexpected life journey started the day I was accepted to attend this University,” Justice Sotomayor said. “This is a place that helps make dreams come true, and this is the place from which the improbable happens.”
Sonia Sotomayor Hall, located at 36 University Place, is the site of programs that support first-generation college, lower-income, transfer, and veteran students, as well as the first place that many prospective students visit on campus. It houses the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity, the undergraduate Admission Information Center and the Center for Career Development. The building also includes one of the two Princeton University Store locations.