Anthony C. McPhail makes the 2023 award presentation to Dr. Earl S. Richardson, President Emeritus, Morgan State University.

Anthony C. McPhail makes the 2023 award presentation to Dr. Earl S. Richardson, President Emeritus, Morgan State University.

<p>Anthony C. McPhail with 2023 Anthony C. McPhail Leadership Legacy Award winner Dr. Earl S. Richardson and 2020 award winner Dr. David K. Wilson.</p>

Anthony C. McPhail with 2023 Anthony C. McPhail Leadership Legacy Award winner Dr. Earl S. Richardson and 2020 award winner Dr. David K. Wilson.

The Howard L. Cornish Metropolitan Baltimore Chapter of the Morgan State University Alumni Association has awarded the 2023 Anthony C. McPhail Leadership Legacy Award to Dr. Earl S. Richardson, President Emeritus of Morgan State University for his initiation of the historic $577 million federal lawsuit against the State of Maryland for traditional under-funding of its four Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Morgan State University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Coppin State University, and Bowie State University.

The alumni chapter created the award in 2020 as a public recognition of McPhail’s leadership abilities in serving as chairman of the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Breakfast for the past 36 years. McPhail is a 1972 graduate of Clinton High School and a 1976 graduate of Morgan State University.

The MLK Breakfast is the largest scholarship fund-raiser sponsored by any of the University’s alumni chapters. Celebrating its 38th anniversary, the MLK Breakfast has raised more than $1 million in scholarships and has awarded 254 laptop computers to deserving Morgan State students.

Current Morgan State University President, Dr. David K. Wilson, was the inaugural recipient of this award in 2020. The award is presented annually to an individual exhibiting visionary leadership in community engagement within the Baltimore metropolitan area. The award is a laser-etched three-dimensional crystal landscape, with a LED lighted base illuminating images of Dr. Richardson and a judge’s gavel juxtaposed against the backdrop of the Earl S. Richardson Library located on the Morgan State University campus.