July
24, 2003
"A Discussion of Grutter v. Bollinger:
Meaning and Implications," with Law Prof. Kim
Forde-Mazrui
Law professor Kim Forde-Mazrui thought he knew how the Supreme Court
would probably decide the already infamous Grutter v. Bollinger case,
in which University of Michigan applicants challenged the undergraduate
and law school admissions policies. "Now I have to regroup because
I was frankly stunned" when the Court upheld the law school's policy,
and with it affirmative action in higher ed. "So it's all new and
I don't know where this is going," he acknowledged to students and
professors who met to talk about the decision at a July 24 lunch sponsored
by the Center for the Study of Race and Law. Forde-Mazrui, director of
the new Center, questioned whether the Supreme Court made the right decision
and based it on the wrong reasons. More
April
1, 2003
Visit with Judge Denny Chin
As a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, Judge Denny
Chin sees some of the most cutting-edge cases in the country, so much
so that three of his cases were used as plots for the popular "Law
and Order" television series. But Chin's position is unique for
another reason as well—he was the first Asian-American appointed
to a federal district court judgeship outside the 9th Circuit, and is
now just one of six Asian-American Article III judges today. Chin spoke
informally to students in a discussion organized by the Asian Pacific
American Law Students Association (APALSA) April 1 at the Law School. More
March 31-April
4, 2003
Diversity Week
March 31
Spike Lee's "Bamboozled":
Movie screening and discussion
(sponsored by BLSA and APALSA)
April 1
"The Deaf Community and Deaf Culture"
with UVA Prof. Christopher Krentz (sponsored by SBA)
SUPRA End of Year Dinner; Topic: Affirmative Action (sponsored by SUPRA)
April 2
"A Look at World Music History" with UVA Prof. Natalie Sarrizin (sponsored by SBA)
"Balancing Work and Family for the Young Attorney" with Law professors Elizabeth Magill and Paul Mahoney (sponsored by Law Families & Virginia Law Women)
"And the Band Played On": Movie screening and discussion (sponsored by Lambda Law Alliance)April 3
"Reflections of Female Racial Stereotypes" (sponsored by Women of Color)
April 4
"A Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy" (sponsored by Virginia Law Democrats)
March
25, 2003
"Voices of the Brown Generation"
Law professor Mildred Robinson remembers clearly the day the Supreme
Court handed down the Brown v. Board of Education decision ruling
that "separate but equal" schools violated the 14th Amendment.
She was in fourth grade, and her father, the principal of her segregated
South Carolina school, came into the schoolyard, ringing the bell that
normally signaled the end of recess. As the students gathered around
him he announced the decision to the children, and they danced and laughed, "perhaps
without knowing why," Robinson told the audience during her chair
lecture inaugurating the Henry L. and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation
Professorship March 25 at the Law School. Robinson teamed up with law
professor Richard Bonnie in surveying the country's law academe about
the impact—if any—of Brown in their neighborhoods. "That
case had a profound impact on both of our lives," she said. "We
[also] wondered what others of our generation could and would recall
and share." More
March
15, 2003
Plenary Session on Affirmative Action,
Conference on Public Service & the Law
Two weeks before they met at the U.S. Supreme Court for a fateful showdown
on affirmative action admissions policies at the nation's public universities,
the opposing sides in Grutter v. Bollinger held a pretrial scrimmage
at the Law School March 15 as the main event of the 4th annual Conference
on Public Service and the Law. The panel brought together Jonathan Alger
(pictured), Assistant General Counsel for the University of Michigan
(the defendant in the case brought by Barbara Grutter, an unsuccessful
applicant to the U-M Law School in 1997); Stanford University law professor
Richard Banks; Curt Levey, director of legal and public affairs for the
Center for Individual Rights (which is representing Grutter); Roger Pilon,
director of the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies; and
Peter J. Rubin, associate professor of law at Georgetown University Law
Center. More
March
13, 2003
"Recasting American Liberty: Gender, Race, Law,
and the Railroad Revolution, 1865-1920"
American railroads in the mid-to-late 19th century mirrored
Americans' own regard for vigorous individualism. Classes intermixed
in the cars, passengers could move freely about the train, and
men were even expected to jump off trains early, or if trains
didn't stop. In Europe, by contrast, there was little mobility
for passengers, cars were organized by class and railroad officials
enforced a number of safety measures. Yet over the course of
time, as University of Minnesota associate professor Barbara
Welke demonstrates in her book, constraints were added to American
railroads as a result of personal injury lawsuits, Jim Crow laws,
and pain and suffering lawsuits brought by female passengers.
Welke's account in Recasting American Liberty: Gender, Race,
Law and the Railroad Revolution, 1865-1920, discussed March
13 at an event sponsored by the Program on Legal and Constitutional
History, traces how liability cases pressured railroads to more
strictly regulate safety and passenger autonomy. More
March 12, 2003
March Against Racial Hatred
University-wide march. Students met on the Law School lawn
at 6:30 pm and followed a route through the undergraduate dorm
area. The march concluded at the Rotunda at 8 pm with a candlelight
vigil and scheduled speakers, including Tim Lovelace, Student
BOV member, and law Prof. Anne Coughlin. More
March
11, 2003
BLSA Black History Month Speaker Robert Grey,
"The Future of the Legal Profession"
With politicians playing fast and loose with public funds and the accounting
industry severely weakened by Enron and other scandals, the world will
increasingly turn to lawyers to deal with issues presented by globalization
because of the foundation in ethics and problem-solving they receive
in law school, said American Bar Association president-elect nominee
Robert L. Grey Jr. at a rescheduled Black Law Students Association Black
History Month event held March 11 at the Law School.More
February 26, 2003
Minority Law Day
Minority Law Day hosts high school and undergraduate students on campus.
The day consisted of workshops concerning law school admission (for undergraduates),
a mock trial (for high school students), tours, and lunch.
February 20, 2003
BLSA Black History Month Speaker:
Kim Forde-Mazrui, Barron F. Black Research Professor
The Supreme Court likely will strike down the University of Michigan's
affirmative action policy, possibly ending affirmative action throughout
the nation's colleges, law professor Kim Forde-Mazrui said at a Black
Law Students Association Black History Month event Feb. 20. More
February 18, 2003
Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbara Ehrenreich, renowned journalist and author of Nickel and Dimed,
discussed her new book "Global Woman" and shared her perspectives
on "the female underside of globalization"- i.e. Latina domestic
workers in Los Angeles, sex slaves in Thailand, and contract brides in
Vietnam. Sponsored by Virginia Law Women and Women of Color.
February
13, 2003
BLSA Black History Month Speaker:
The Honorable Roger L. Gregory, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
For a country that extols the rule of law and individual rights, the
United States has had a very hard time extending those values to African-Americans,
the Hon. Roger L. Gregory of the United States Court of Appeals for the
Fourth Circuit said in a Feb. 13 speech sponsored by the Black Law Students
Association. He called black history "the same as American history" and
credited African-Americans' stoical perseverance and faith in the law
for the nation's civil rights achievements.
Asked to address the theme, "The Legal Status of African-Americans
from Slavery to the 21st Century and Beyond," Gregory offered what he called
a view from the bench. He is the only judge on any circuit who was appointed
by a president from both parties (first nominated by Clinton and then reappointed
by Bush), and despite the fact that the Fourth Circuit has the highest percentage
of black population of any circuit, he is the first black to hold a seat on it. More
January 20, 2003
"Violence and Democracy," with Prof. Corey Walker
In celebration of the birthday and legacy of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., the Black Law Students Association presented
Prof. Walker, a University professor of African and African
American Studies.
November
12, 2002
Diversity Series: Gender and Islamic Jurisprudence,
Culture, and Politics
Contrary to images in the media, women in Islamic states defy easy definition:
In the last two decades in Iran, women have gone from bearing an average
of seven children to less than three—equivalent to present U.S.
birthrates—due to a state-sponsored campaign for family planning
and education. In Turkey, women with veils are shunned despite protests
from Islamic women that "they should be allowed to cover themselves
as they see fit." Extremist Islamic social movements, including
some women, are providing the strongest voice against female genital
mutilation (FGM) in Yemen and Egypt, saying the practice has no basis
in the Quran. Noting these facts, UVA Middle East Studies Program visiting
researcher Jefferson Gray said when it comes to the Islamic world and
gender, Americans should push preconceptions aside and expect the unexpected. More
October
7, 2002
Student Scholarly Lunch with Prof. Michael Klarman
Prof. Klarman presented the conclusion to his book, Neither Hero,
Nor Villain: The Supreme Court, Race and the Constitution, From Jim Crow
to Civil Rights.
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