Avery Brroks, accomplished actor, director, musician, and tenured professor at Rutgers University, served as the Master of Ceremony for the Awards Gala. His acting credits include Captain Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Hawk on Spenser: For Hire (television); Othello in Shakespeare's Othello and Phillip Hayes Dean in Paul Robeson (stage); and Dr. Bob Sweeney in American History X and Paris in The Big Hit (feature films).