FSU has bestowed an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Seminole Tribe of Florida member and General Counsel Jim Shore.
Shore’s honorary Doctor of Laws degree recognizes his lifetime achievements as a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida—a 3,000-member, federally-recognized Indian tribe headquartered in Hollywood, Fla., with reservations totaling 90,000 acres in several parts of the state—and for his advocacy on its behalf as General Counsel. He is the first member of the Seminole Tribe to become an attorney, graduating from Stetson University College of Law in 1980.
Born in 1945 northwest of Lake Okeechobee on what is now the Brighton Seminole Reservation and raised in a traditional log and thatched-roof chickee hut, Shore overcame a physical disability—he was blinded in an automobile accident in 1970—as well as cultural challenges that made access to higher education more difficult.
Shore’s legal work includes environmental issues, as well as economic development, human services and many other aspects of tribal government. He spearheaded the development and completion of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casinos in Tampa and Hollywood, Fla., which have become the economic engines underpinning the tribe’s future support of its education, health care, housing and environmental preservation.
His efforts to bring economic prosperity to the tribe have made huge differences to the health and welfare of his people.
As a tireless advocate for higher education for the Seminole Tribe’s children, Shore also has been an unwavering supporter of the tribe’s ties to FSU. He was a driving force behind the tribe’s historic written resolution last spring that supported FSU’s use of Seminole symbolism in the university’s academic and athletic activities.
His honorary degree is the 111th awarded—and the 19th honorary doctorate in Laws—since FSU’s founding 154 years ago.