COVER STORY
Alumna makes history in western New York Trini Ross, ’88, sworn in as U.S. Attorney
By Roger Coda
The day after George Floyd was killed, a young son of Trini Ross, an alumna of the State University of New York at Fredonia, told his mother that she should become a United States Attorney because he believed she would take steps to make sure what he saw would never happen again. “When I asked him why he thought I could do that, he told me because of over the 23 years that he grew up with me being a prosecutor, he saw me try to practice what I preached, and that was ensuring that justice was done no matter the personal circumstances of a defendant or a victim,” Ms. Ross explained. “He saw what I did as a prosecutor, and he believed that I could use that experience to become a United States Attorney and to make positive changes.” Ross indicated the murder of Mr. Floyd that sparked outrage and social justice movements throughout the United States and the world struck her in a very personal way that was unique. An older son is a New York State trooper who was assigned to ensure that the protests remain peaceful, while a younger son wanted to participate in the marches to express the outrage at what he had seen. That was a defining moment Ms. Ross shared at her ceremonial investiture, as the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York, held in November at her alma mater, Hutchinson Central Technical High School. It was a homecoming of sorts in Buffalo for Ross, who went on to earn a B.A. in Sociology at Fredonia in 1988.
President Biden selects Ross
Continued
Trini Ross shares the vision that will guide her as the top law enforcement officer in Western New York.
It also marked a historic first. Ross is the first African American female to become the top federal prosecutor for the 17 counties that comprise the Western District. www.fredonia.edu/alumni
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