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Cooke Board Chairman Takes
Strong Stand Against Discrimination
at Cooke Spring Gala
Event Raises More than $800,000
Cooke Honors
Board Chairman Lon Jacobs
Cooke’s Board Chairman Lon Jacobs spoke
out against discrimination toward people
with special needs when he was honored
at Cooke’s Road to Independence Spring
Gala on April 27.
“The Cooke Center should be proud of its
many accomplishments, none more so than
to treat each of our kids as an individual
who possesses unique gifts,” said Mr. Jacobs
as he received Cooke’s Founders Award.
“Unfortunately, much of the rest of the
world does not share this view,” Mr Jacobs
continued. “The word ‘retard’ appears 17
times in Ben Stiller’s film ‘Tropic Thunder‘,”
he told the crowd of 400 guests. “And of
course people with intellectual disabilities
are now a favorite target on the Internet.”
People who Discriminate
‘Need to be Educated’
Senior Executive Vice President and Group
General Counsel at News Corporation, Mr.
Jacobs spoke of how discrimination has hurt
his own daughter Molly, a 12-year-old with
a mild cognitive impairment who started
with Cooke in kindergarten.
“I can’t remember what I was like before
Molly was born. She has never had a bad
day,” said the proud dad. Yet, he said,
people think it’s okay to stare at Molly in
public. “Why is it so hard to understand
that people with special needs count as
much as you and me?”
Mr. Jacobs had some advice for the crowd
at Cipriani 42nd St: “The next time you
hear someone use the word [retard] or see
someone humiliate a person with disabilities,
call them on it. Most people aren’t evil;
they are simply ignorant and need to be
educated.”
Corporate Support
Mr. Jacobs also thanked Ira Sheinfeld and
Hogan & Hartson for their support of
Cooke over the years, not only with
financial contributions but by accepting
and mentoring Cooke’s student-interns.
Many other supporters came out to support
Cooke on the warm spring evening,
including lead donors like News Corporation,
Allen & Company, Goldman Sachs
and Loeb and Loeb. Cooke Board members
and parents were also there to celebrate.
Fox 5 News Anchors Ernie Anastos and
Dari Alexander emceed the event with
humor and charm.
NASDAQ OMX Honored
Also honored at the gala was NASDAQ
OMX, which has been tremendously
supportive of Cooke’s technology efforts
and its programming for older teens at the
Cooke Center Academy high school.
“The innovation and creativity that
defines Cooke is seen every day,” said
Bruce Aust, executive vice president for
NASDAQ’s Corporate Client Group.
“Cooke prepares their
students
for life.”
Left to Right: Cooke Board Member Christine Hennessey, her friend Shirley Wise, and Katherine Gallagher, speech therapist to Cooke student Lexie Hennessey / Fox 5’s Dari Alexander and Ernie Anastos
Award to NASDAQ OMX, with Bruce Aust accepting / News Corp’s Executive Vice President, Global Marketing and Corporate Affairs Gary Ginsberg (right), who introduced Mr. Jacobs, with his wife Susan
Cravath Swaine & Moore, Peter Smith of Hogan & Hartson and Steve Gold of Mintz & Gold / Cooke President Michael Termini with Kevin Hopkins and Laura Inzalaco-Hopkins, who will serve as Cooke’s He
Mikhaila Wirfel