- Clarence Thomas' membership in the Horatio Alger Association gives it rare access, per the Times.
- The elite group welcomed Thomas into the fold after his stormy Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
In 1991, Clarence Thomas became a household name in one of the most tumultuous Supreme Court nomination hearings in modern history, with the jurist facing allegations of sexual harassment from law professor and former colleague Anita Hill.
Under the glare of the national media, Thomas — a Black conservative who had previously chaired the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and at the time was a judge on the influential Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — was narrowly confirmed to the high court. But the confirmation battle had deeply affected him.
"I couldn't be defeated without first being caricatured and dehumanized," Thomas said of his opponents in his 2008 memoir, "My Grandfather's Son."
But shortly after his confirmation, he was embraced by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, a nonprofit organization that counts amongst its membership an array of highly influential and wealthy individuals who had revered Thomas' life story and were thrilled by his ascension to the high court, according to The New York Times.
Thomas soon became a member of the Horatio Alger Association himself and cherished his ability to speak with students and mentor scholarship recipients.
Along the way, he has become one of the most prominent ambassadors for the group.
Each year, Thomas leads the induction ceremony for the newest members of the Horatio Alger Association in the courtroom of the Supreme Court, placing medals around the necks of the inductees in an event that holds great personal significance to the judge. But the group's level of access to the Supreme Court is quite unusual, per The Times.
"The Horatio Alger Association has been a home to Virginia and me," Thomas remarked in 2010, mentioning his wife, Ginni, in a speech given to the organization as he received its most venerable award.
Armstrong Williams, the conservative commentator and longtime friend of Thomas, told the Times that the Horatio Alger Association made the jurist "realize that not everyone judges him by the confirmation process, particularly among people of that class and wealth group."
"They really treated him like a brother, like he mattered and, in return, he opened up the Supreme Court," Williams added.
That openness is evident each spring, when the association holds several events in Washington, DC, which often includes a dinner at the National Portrait Gallery and an awards ceremony that in the past has been hosted by the actor Tom Selleck and conservative commentator Lou Dobbs, according to the Times.
Thomas hosts the induction ceremony in the Supreme Court courtroom, where roughly 10 new individuals are welcomed into the elite organization. Near the end of the event, the organization's scholarship recipients are presented to the attendees, and the recipients walk in a procession in the room, per the Times.
Based on fundraising records obtained by the Times, the Horatio Alger Association has highlighted its court ceremony when raising funds for its scholarship recipients. But according to the newspaper, the Supreme Court advises entities against using its facilities — or the justices themselves — when seeking any sort of funding.
Several members told the Times that Thomas presenting them with their medals in the courtroom remained a cherished memory.
"He really seemed to like the fact that everyone else enjoys being in the courtroom," former Horatio Alger event producer and communications specialist Anthony Hutcherson told the Times, adding that "nobody else" but Thomas could give them such an experience.
Thomas this year has been ensnared in a major controversy over legal ethics.
In April, the judge faced criticism after ProPublica published a bombshell report that detailed how he had taken luxury vacations funded by billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow for more than 20 years without disclosing the excursions.
Thomas, in a response to revelations about the previously undisclosed trips, said at the time that he was advised that it wasn't necessary to report "this sort of personal hospitality." But he added that he would now follow the new guidelines set forth by the Judicial Conference of the United States.