Roderick J. Cassidy, recently retired general counsel of the Archdiocese of New York, and Osmar J. Benvenuto, managing director and global head of internal investigations at Morgan Stanley, were honored at the annual Saint Thomas More Award Luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Cipriani 42nd Street.

More than 500 guests attended the event, which was emceed by Jonathan Morris, executive coach at Morris and Larson Advisors and Fox News contributor. The program also included remarks from both honorees; an invocation from Eyad Tapia of Our Lady Queen of Angels, Grade 8; a speech from student speaker Jayden Neil of Mount Saint Michael Academy, Class of 2027; and closing remarks from Ronald A. Hicks, Archbishop of New York.

The event raised more than $550,000 in support of Inner-City Scholarship Fund and its mission to provide families with demonstrable financial need the opportunity to send their children to quality, values-based K-12 Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of New York.

The Lawyers Committee of Inner-City Scholarship Fund has long been an active and effective ally in providing tuition assistance to Catholic school students from low-income families. The annual luncheon has become an opportunity to present the Saint Thomas More Award to a member of the legal profession who exemplifies the virtues of Saint Thomas: scholarship, leadership, loyalty to God and country, and service to the legal profession.

For more than five decades, Inner-City Scholarship Fund has been changing lives by providing families with demonstrable financial need the opportunity to give their children a quality, values-based K-12 Catholic education within the Archdiocese of New York. Providing more than 9,000 scholarships annually, Inner-City ensures that the gift of an excellent Catholic school education remains a viable option for students of all faiths and backgrounds.