Beth Hopkins named USTA Champion of Equality
9/7/2023 8:14:00 PM | General, Women's Tennis
FORMER WAKE FOREST PROFESSOR SERVES AS USTA SOUTHERN VICE PRESIDENT
Sept. 5, 2023 – NEW YORK – Muriel "Beth" Hopkins will be honored as one of 17 USTA Champions of Equality at the US Open. Hopkins was selected by USTA Southern, the largest of the USTA sections.
On the 50th Anniversary of Equal Prize Money at the 2023 US Open, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) is set to host the Inaugural Champions of Equality Event on Sept. 7.
This event serves as a tribute to female leaders from all 17 USTA Sections who exemplify the spirit of a Champion of Equality through their unwavering dedication and commitment to advancing the cause.
Hopkins expressed her gratitude, saying, "It is a huge honor to receive an award for a concern which has been part of every facet of my life."
"Beth has been a Champion of Equality in life," said USTA Southern President & CEO Brett Schwartz. "She has demonstrated great strength, courage and grace in dealing with inequality, and as such, has materially changed the organizations that once treated her unequally, which is a testament to Beth's true character. We are extremely proud of Beth's recognition for this award."
The resident of Winston-Salem, N.C. began volunteering for the USTA by serving as a member of the Constitution & Rules Committee for USTA North Carolina. Subsequently, she assumed roles of increasing responsibility, including serving on the Board of Directors for both USTA North Carolina and USTA Southern. She was elected as USTA Southern Vice President in 2021. She undertook crucial roles, acting as a Board Liaison for the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. She previously served as Chairman of the USTA Constitution & Rules Committee.
Hopkins' multifaceted career underscores her commitment to legal practice, education, and community outreach. She earned her bachelor's degree East Asian History in 1973 from Wake Forest and a jurisprudence degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 1978. Her legal career included working as Virginia's Assistant Attorney General and Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1978-84.
At Wake Forest she served in the Legal Department including OF Counsel. She also worked in positions in the Department of History, American Ethnic Studies and Professor of Practice in the Department of History and in the School of Law. During this period, she also took on the role of Director of Outreach in the School of Law. Hopkins was instrumental in developing courses and initiating and overseeing the Pro Bono and Public Initiative Programs within the School of Law.
She began her love of tennis after taking a tennis class at Wake Forest where she was one of only two African American females living on the campus. She was the university's first black homecoming queen. Hopkins graduated with honors from Wake Forest in 1973 but was denied admission to its law school because the school already had two blacks.
Reflecting on her early experiences with tennis, Hopkins shared, "The environment in which I grew up in the 1960s in Petersburg, Virginia, was not hospitable to tennis players who looked like me. In fact, we might have been arrested had we played on public courts in the part of town in which we did not live."
Hopkins is determined to make tennis more inclusive, adding, "My son played No. 1 on the tennis team at Wake Forest University, and I see it as my mission to bring as many players of all stripes into this grand sport."
As a devoted USTA volunteer, Hopkins exemplifies the core mission of USTA by fostering the development of tennis while actively supporting diversity and inclusion initiatives. Her engagement in innovative projects connected to the American Tennis Association and Historically Black Colleges and Universities shows her determination to help future generations of tennis players, especially those facing disadvantaged backgrounds and challenges.
USTA Southern Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Cee Jai Jones submitted Hopkins as a candidate for this prestigious recognition. She wrote, "Hopkins has lived the USTA D&I Strategic Vision of working to make sure that tennis is the sport, employer, and partner of choice for people of all ages, gender identities, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, physical and cognitive abilities, religions, and every other dimension of diversity."
On the 50th Anniversary of Equal Prize Money at the 2023 US Open, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) is set to host the Inaugural Champions of Equality Event on Sept. 7.
This event serves as a tribute to female leaders from all 17 USTA Sections who exemplify the spirit of a Champion of Equality through their unwavering dedication and commitment to advancing the cause.
Hopkins expressed her gratitude, saying, "It is a huge honor to receive an award for a concern which has been part of every facet of my life."
"Beth has been a Champion of Equality in life," said USTA Southern President & CEO Brett Schwartz. "She has demonstrated great strength, courage and grace in dealing with inequality, and as such, has materially changed the organizations that once treated her unequally, which is a testament to Beth's true character. We are extremely proud of Beth's recognition for this award."
The resident of Winston-Salem, N.C. began volunteering for the USTA by serving as a member of the Constitution & Rules Committee for USTA North Carolina. Subsequently, she assumed roles of increasing responsibility, including serving on the Board of Directors for both USTA North Carolina and USTA Southern. She was elected as USTA Southern Vice President in 2021. She undertook crucial roles, acting as a Board Liaison for the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. She previously served as Chairman of the USTA Constitution & Rules Committee.
Hopkins' multifaceted career underscores her commitment to legal practice, education, and community outreach. She earned her bachelor's degree East Asian History in 1973 from Wake Forest and a jurisprudence degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 1978. Her legal career included working as Virginia's Assistant Attorney General and Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1978-84.
At Wake Forest she served in the Legal Department including OF Counsel. She also worked in positions in the Department of History, American Ethnic Studies and Professor of Practice in the Department of History and in the School of Law. During this period, she also took on the role of Director of Outreach in the School of Law. Hopkins was instrumental in developing courses and initiating and overseeing the Pro Bono and Public Initiative Programs within the School of Law.
She began her love of tennis after taking a tennis class at Wake Forest where she was one of only two African American females living on the campus. She was the university's first black homecoming queen. Hopkins graduated with honors from Wake Forest in 1973 but was denied admission to its law school because the school already had two blacks.
Reflecting on her early experiences with tennis, Hopkins shared, "The environment in which I grew up in the 1960s in Petersburg, Virginia, was not hospitable to tennis players who looked like me. In fact, we might have been arrested had we played on public courts in the part of town in which we did not live."
Hopkins is determined to make tennis more inclusive, adding, "My son played No. 1 on the tennis team at Wake Forest University, and I see it as my mission to bring as many players of all stripes into this grand sport."
As a devoted USTA volunteer, Hopkins exemplifies the core mission of USTA by fostering the development of tennis while actively supporting diversity and inclusion initiatives. Her engagement in innovative projects connected to the American Tennis Association and Historically Black Colleges and Universities shows her determination to help future generations of tennis players, especially those facing disadvantaged backgrounds and challenges.
USTA Southern Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Cee Jai Jones submitted Hopkins as a candidate for this prestigious recognition. She wrote, "Hopkins has lived the USTA D&I Strategic Vision of working to make sure that tennis is the sport, employer, and partner of choice for people of all ages, gender identities, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, physical and cognitive abilities, religions, and every other dimension of diversity."
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