Honorary Degree Recipients Have Notable Ties to Dominican
A state supreme court justice and a lifelong advocate for immigrant rights will be recognized with honorary degrees during Dominican University’s Spring 2025 Commencement ceremonies on May 4.
Justice Mary I. Yu ’79, Rosary College alumna and supreme court justice for the state of Washington, and Sr. Bernadine Karge, OP, a retired immigration attorney and Dominican University trustee, will each be presented with a Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa.
Justice Yu will address the undergraduate class and Sr. Bernadine will address the graduate class.
Justice Yu was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court in 2014 and is the first Asian American, first Latina and first openly identified member of the LGBTQ+ community to serve on the court. Prior to this role, she served for 14 years as a trial court judge in the King County Superior Court in Washington, presiding over criminal, civil, and juvenile court cases, as well as adoptions and other family law matters.
Before attending law school, Justice Yu was director of the Peace and Justice Office for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
She is a distinguished jurist in residence and instructor at Seattle University School of Law, a member of the American Law Institute, and co-chair of the State of Washington Minority and Justice Commission. For 17 years, Justice Yu was a judge and mentor of the Seattle Girls' School Mock Trial Team.
Through the years, she has received numerous awards and recognition. Most recently these included the 2024 Outstanding Judge Award from the King County Bar Association, the 2024 Champion of Justice Award from the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, and the 2020 Latina/o Bar Association of Washington CZ Smith Trailblazer Award.
The daughter of immigrants from China and Mexico, Justice Yu is a first-generation college graduate.
A Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, Sr. Bernadine Karge, OP is a retired attorney who practiced immigration law in the nonprofit sector for more than 30 years. Since her retirement, she has used her legal background as a volunteer, assisting members of the immigrant community and working as an advocate for immigration reform. She has volunteered at immigration clinics in Chicago, at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, and with Annunciation House, an organization providing shelter and other assistance to newly arrived migrants in El Paso, Texas.
Sr. Bernadine has written and spoken frequently about the need for immigration reform and for the rights of undocumented migrants to be respected. She was among several women religious who contributed to a news release from Network Lobby in January of this year, affirming that care for immigrants is essential to the Catholic mission and faith.
Since 2015, Sr. Bernadine has served on the Dominican University Board of Trustees.