New U.S. Attorney Sworn In At Career High

Thirty years after graduating from Hill Regional Career High School, Vanessa Avery returned to the Legion Avenue public school’s auditorium to be sworn in as the state’s next top federal prosecutor.

That was the scene Tuesday afternoon as over 200 lawyers, judges, family members, friends, fellow Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorors, and even a few of Avery’s former New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) teachers gathered in the 140 Legion Ave. auditorium for Avery’s investiture as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. 

In that role, she and her office of nearly 70 attorneys in New Haven, Bridgeport, and Hartford are responsible for prosecuting criminal and civil cases brought by the federal government in Connecticut, as well as for defending the federal government when it’s sued.

Avery was nominated to the U.S. Attorney position by President Joe Biden in January, and then confirmed by the U.S. Senate in April. A native of Newhallville who got her undergraduate degree from Yale, her law degree from Georgetown, and who most recently worked as an associate state attorney general, Avery is Connecticut’s first Black female top federal prosecutor. 

While she was first sworn into her new job in early May, Tuesday’s ceremony served as an hour-and-a-half-long celebration of Avery’s professional accomplishments to date — as well as of her proud roots in the community from which she came. 

The men and women who took the stage, each beaming with pride, to shower Avery in praise on Tuesday included not just colleagues and mentors and admirers from the top of Connecticut’s legal world, but also her sisters, her pastor, the president of the local chapter of the NAACP, and a close childhood friend and fellow classmate from Bassett School, Jackie Robinson School, and Career High. 

The ceremony also featured live musical performances from her goddaughters Ayana and Adina Salahuddin, who played a Mozart string quartet on their violins, as well as from Marcella Monk Flake’s Monk Youth Jazz STEAM Collective Ensemble, which performed a version of Common and John Legend’s song, ​“Glory.”

This is a ​“full circle moment,” Avery said about getting sworn in as Connecticut’s next U.S. attorney at the very high school she graduated from 30 years ago. ​“My selection as U.S. attorney says as much about you and who we are as a nation as it does about me” and her long track record of professional achievements so far.

Today’s celebration is not just about her, she stressed, but also about ​“this community.”

Chief Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court William Bright, Jr., who used to work with Avery at a law firm in Hartford in the late 1990s and early 2000s, agreed. He praised her choice of her high school alma mater in the Hill as the venue for her swearing-in ceremony.

“Small choices we make can send powerful messages,” he said.

Speaker after speaker on Tuesday praised Avery for her character and competence, her hard work and the way she lifts up those around her.

She is ​“one of the most thoughtful and kindest people,” said state Deputy Attorney General Margaret Chapple. ​“We are a better office for having had Vanessa work” as an associate state attorney general.

Avery is ​“an exceptional person, a distinguished and skilled lawyer, and a natural leader,” said former U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly, who was Avery’s boss when the former worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Connecticut office’s civil division. During her time in that role, Daly said, Avery handled everything from false claims to asset forfeitures to civil rights cases to defending public employees in wrongful death lawsuits.

“She calmly navigated the demands of this complex docket seamlessly,” Daly said. And throughout, ​“she carried herself like a queen. Dignified. Always thorough.”

Daly also singled out Avery’s roots in New Haven as making her all the better fit for the job she now holds. ​“Her maternal grandparents were sharecroppers,” Daly said. ​“She grew up in Newhallville at the height of the crack epidemic. And she is a proud graduate of this high school.” She said that Avery’s background — in addition to her wealth of experience as a lawyer — should help inspire confidence in law enforcement and help bridge divides with the communities that law enforcement serves.

Greater New Haven NAACP President and fellow AKA soror Dori Dumas, who has known Avery since she was an undergrad at Yale, also commended her for her community outreach efforts as she rose the ranks of government legal office. ​“You were destined for this position,” she told Avery, whom she described as the right person for the right job at the right moment.

“You accomplished so much at an early age,” childhood friend Tiffany Caldwell said as she remembered their time growing up in Newhallville, singing in chorus, joining student council, writing and acting in plays together, reading all the time, joining the debate team, participating in mock trials at Yale as a high school student, and then following through on her dream of going to law school. ​“You never forgot about God or your community,” Caldwell said.

And Avery’s sisters, Angela Serrano and Marleen Roberts, spoke about how appropriate it is that the name ​“Vanessa” is also a type of butterfly.

“Your wings were strong,” Roberts said. ​“You are the queen butterfly.”

After taking the oath of office as administered by federal District of Connecticut Chief Judge Stefan Underhill, Avery addressed the crowd.

Most people, she said, want the same things in life. They want ​“safe neighborhoods in which to live and raise their families.” They want ​“fair and just application of the law.” They want to be ​“afforded respect” regardless of their race, gender, background, or anything else. She promised to work towards upholding those values by enforcing the law and by working closely with the community. 

During her long list of thank you’s — to her colleagues, her husband and kids, and her late parents, among many others — she singled out for recognition her former NHPS teachers, a few of whom, including her sixth grade math teacher, were in attendance on Tuesday. 

She thanked those teachers for putting in countless hours working with her and her classmates so that ​“we could envision thriving in a world beyond our neighborhood and limited circumstances.” 

“I stand on the shoulders of giants,” she said, as well as on the shoulders of regular everyday people who have put in the work to make this state, and this city, that much better of a place to live.