Connection in Adversity 

Growing up in Topeka, Kansas, in the 1960s, Jeffery Benson '26 was surrounded by love.

"I grew up in a very tight knit Black family that was filled with a lot of love and a lot of pride and a lot of purpose," he recalls. 

He remembers his grandmother cooking meals from scratch, the smell of spices wafting through the house as she crafted his favorite dishes. He remembers sitting around the table as a family, rooted in connection and community. Sometimes, his grandmother would allow a special treat on Sundays. The kids in the family could go down to the local diner to pick up a simple all-American classic dish: warm apple pie with ice cream.

"They did the best — besides my grandmother — apple pie in town," Benson emphasizes, "and they also served it with what was called satin freeze ice cream. I still remember the taste of it today."  

When Benson would return to the diner to trade in the pie tin he had freshly washed for a nickel, he remembers being told to use the back door because he wasn't allowed in the front.

"Moments like that were really quieting and very dehumanizing and reminders of the inequality that existed around me. That planted in me this burning desire to challenge unjust systems. That desire became the foundation of my decision to pursue my legal education."

Letter of the Law

Benson's journey to the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law began when he took a job as a courier. Every day he would come through campus to deliver mail and packages.

His own acceptance letter to the school would come nearly 30 years later.

"I remember dropping off packages to McGeorge, but I never really considered walking through the front doors of the law library one day, some 30 years later," he said.

In 2022, he stumbled upon an advertisement for a New Student Mixer event. Something pulled at him to check it out the following week, and the resulting decision to enroll in law school at age 59 changed his path forever.

"My first impression with McGeorge and the University of Pacific was overwhelming. I knew it was an elite school in the area. I knew of its heritage and the history. I stepped onto the campus with a bunch of hope and humility in my pocket. Almost immediately, I was riddled with imposter syndrome and as a non-traditional student, I wasn't sure how I'd be received. But the professor's encouragement on that day really echoed one message to me, and that was 'Jeff, you do belong.'" 

History of Activism

In addition to making an incredible apple pie, Benson's grandmother was a fierce proponent of civil rights. She petitioned to desegregate schools. Benson's mother, father and aunt went to a segregated school called Monroe, which was at the center of the legendary Brown v. Board of Education lawsuit.

"My grandmother took up the fight and took up petitioning in Topeka. Fast forward, that landmark decision altered the face of the future of education as we know it today, right? It had a global effect, but it really shaped the core of who I am," he said.  

Benson plans to carry on his family's legacy by becoming a civil rights attorney.  

"I want to finish my Master of Science in Law program, then get my JD to become a civil rights attorney. I want to tie back the work from a civil rights perspective that my family started in the 50s and 60s, all the way up to the Supreme Court to work with the Department of Education as a civil rights attorney and become a policy advocate at the Department of Justice,” he said.

This story first appeared in the 2025 issue of the Pacific Magazine. Learn more about the Journey to Pacific.