2023 USSYP Yearbook - Flipbook - Page 16
FORMER CHIEF JUDGE
Robert Henry (USSYP OK – 1971)
The Principles of the Enlightenment Holding True
(LEFT) Judge Henry with Oklahoma delegates
Raven Owens and Tuqa Alibadi
“I hope you
will leave this
tremendous
gathering with a
new commitment
to following the
law that has made
this country so very
great and the envy
of the world.”
Former Chief Judge
Robert Henry (USSYP OK – 1971)
D
istinguished alum Judge Robert Henry’s kickoff speaking event has been a cherished
tradition of the USSYP for nearly 20 years. The former Chief Judge opened the first in-person
Washington Week Monday presentation since the start of the pandemic – and his message
was hopeful. His long tenure at the highest ranks of the Judicial branch set the stage for the group
visit to the Supreme Court later that day, and his former posts as Oklahoma state legislator and state
attorney general further informed his perspective on government, politics and the law. He held aloft a
copy of the book Enlightenment Now by Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, encouraging the students
to remember and commit themselves to the core principles upon which America was founded. Our
founding leaders “were concerned with reason, science, humanism and progress,” and were not “held
in lockstep with old ideas,” Judge Henry noted. An open-minded, multi-disciplinary thought process
is needed now more than ever to tackle our nation’s challenges, he posited, pointing to Pinker’s datadriven thesis of the Enlightenment’s enormous historical success around the globe. Judge Henry
discussed the bedrock role of the Judiciary in providing stability in uncertain times. “This country is
planted thick with laws; most of them are good. I hope you will leave this tremendous gathering with
a new commitment to following the law that has made this country so very great and the envy of the
world.” Oklahoma delegate Raven Owens applauded Judge Henry in her closing remarks: “He has lived
by the philosophy that public service is the rent you pay for the space you occupy.” Fellow delegate Tuqa
Alibadi agreed: “He has proven to us the potential we all hold.”
14 | UNITED STATES SENATE YOUTH PROGRAM 2023
