Eugene D. Orza ’73 to Speak and Receive Honorary Degree at St. John’s School of Law’s 2012 Commencement Exercises

Dean Michael A. Simons is pleased to announce that Eugene D. Orza ’73, former Chief Operating Officer of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), will speak at St. John’s School of Law’s commencement on June 3, 2012. Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., President of St. John’s University, will present Mr. Orza with an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree.

Mr. Orza has devoted his career to advocating for and protecting the contractual rights of professional athletes. Working first as a negotiator, then as Associate General Counsel and, most recently, as the Chief Operating
Officer of the Major League Baseball Players Association, he led five collective bargaining negotiations between the MLBPA and owners
of professional baseball teams.

Growing up in the Bronx, Mr. Orza saw the positive impact unions had on the lives of working people like his parents and grandmother. After serving in the Army during the Vietnam era, he entered St. John’s School of Law in 1971 determined to become a labor lawyer. As a law student, he served as Articles Editor of the Law Review and was a co-founding member of the Labor and Employment Relations Society. After law school, he went straight to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, where he worked for 11 years, holding a number of senior positions, including Chief Counsel to one of its five board members. He was the youngest member of the Senior Executive Service at the NLRB upon the Service's establishment by President Carter in 1979.

Mr. Orza joined the MLBPA in 1984. In addition to guiding major negotiations, he was responsible for overall operations, served as the union's representative on the industry's joint Health Policy Advisory Committee ― which handles all substance use and abuse issues that arise in the sport― and was the Players Association's representative to the Commissioner's Special Task Force on Baseball in the 21st Century. Prior to retiring from the Players Association in 2010, he was also instrumental in the union’s international efforts, including the creation and launch of the World Baseball Classic. In his book, The Last Commissioner, Fay Vincent named Mr. Orza one of the ten “Guardians of the Game” during his tenure.

“We are honored that Mr. Orza will speak at this year’s commencement ceremonies,” Dean Simons said. “From his New York City roots to his tireless work as a labor lawyer and as an advocate for professional athletes and our nation’s national pastime, his path through the legal profession is one that is especially inspiring to the St. John’s Law School community.”