At this fall’s Annual Interfaith Dialogue Organization Dinner at the University of Kentucky, Rabbi Marc Kline, Class of 1985, was presented the 2008 Interfaith Dialogue Excellence Award. The IDO dinner brings individuals from the University and the community together to promote cultural and religious diversity around the common values shared by people of faith.
Rabbi Kline was recognized by IDO leaders for his “dedication for bringing people together and promoting peace and justice in Lexington over the years, an indication of how determined you are as a religious leader in Lexington to reach out the community in all its inclusiveness.”
Asked to discuss this award and his history with the UALR Bowen School of Law, Marc reflected:
“If I am deserving, it is only because I have had great teachers and more than my share of blessings. As to why I came to UALR ... it is simple: I applied to law school late, hoping to revive an athletic career that was going nowhere. My parents were both students at the law school at the time (Stanley and Lois), and I got accepted in Little Rock before hearing from any other law school. Our family was unique, in that Dad was a 3L (having retired from the practice of medicine), mom was a 2L, and I was a 1L. I completed law school in 2 1/2 years and was admitted to the Bar in March of 1985. There are a few members of the legal community who had a great impact on my work and ultimate decisions.
“While I enjoyed learning with and training under the law school faculty as a whole, there are three professors who -- 23 years later -- continue to have impact on my work. First, I have to mention the late Jim Spears. Even as I struggled in several classes, his humanity, his character, and his friendship helped set things back in order. Phillip and Ranko Oliver are family friends. Before they were family friends, Phil was my Torts instructor - the first of my law professors to be able to demonstrate that the celebration of common sense really was the goal of our judicial system. John Dipippa was incredible instructor, great advocate for justice, and my thesis advisor. Outside of the law school, Woodson Walker was my mentor. If Phil Oliver showed me the common sense of the law practice, Woodson showed me the common sense application of the practice.
“I closed my law office to pursue a new vision -- not so much a calling as it was a decision that made more sense for where my head was at. As much as my legal training impacts my work even today, I have never looked back. I met my late wife, Cindy, during law school. She was a first year student who went back into nursing. She passed away in March 2008, leaving me with four wonderful and accomplished children.”
Marc’s undergraduate degree is from Tulane. He attended Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion where he was ordained and earned a Masters of Arts in Hebrew Letters. Marc is Rabbi of Temple Adath Israel, the oldest Jewish Congregation in
Marc is the Chair of the Lexington Fayette County Urban Government Human Rights Commission, and in that capacity also sits as hearing officer over housing discrimination cases. His commitment to diversity sees him serving the peace process and pluralism issues in Israel and Palestine on the Board of The Association of Reform Zionists of America and publishes a weekly commentary that distributes internationally. More locally, he serves on the Boards of the Central Kentucky Metropolitan YMCA and the ACLU, and as Vice-President of the Interfaith Alliance of the
While in Florence, South Carolina, he chaired the Mayor's Human Relations Council and opened a community center for minority and underprivileged teenagers as well as an adult business incubation center with Martin Luther King III and A.M.E. Reverend Leo Woodberry. Marc and Leo were part of a small group who led the 20,000 person march on Columbia to remove the Confederate Flag from the Dome of the Statehouse. Rabbi Kline is the recipient of the first annual Torch Bearer of Light award from the Eastern Carolina Community Development Corporation. He received the MOSAIIC award for his work in teaching and fostering work in diversity by the Blue Grass Community and Technical College.