Leading Civil Rights Experts will discuss the implications of the Supreme Court cases against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, September 26, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED), a national not-for-profit association of equal opportunity, diversity and affirmative action professionals, announced its upcoming distinguished Conference Panel, “Affirmative at the Supreme Court: What is at Stake?” The AAAED 48th National Conference will take place October 11 – 13, 2022, and will be virtual. The conference theme is “Building an Infrastructure for Equitable and Sustainable Change.” The panel will take place on October 13, 2022 at 1:00 pm ET (virtual).

Founded in 1974 as the American Association for Affirmative Action, AAAED is the longest-serving organization of Equal Opportunity Professionals. AAAED provides professional training to members, enabling them to be more successful and productive in their careers as equal opportunity, compliance and diversity practitioners. AAAED also promotes the understanding and advocacy of affirmative action and other equal opportunity laws to enhance the tenets of access, inclusion and equality in employment, economic and educational opportunities.

“AAAED is delighted to have such outstanding civil rights experts to speak about the upcoming cases before the U.S. Supreme Court,” said L. Jerry Knighton, Conference Chair. “Once again, the Court will take up the question of diversity as a compelling interest under the U.S. Constitution and this panel will discuss the implications for higher education admissions policies,” he added.

The speakers for this panel include David Hinojosa, Director, Education Opportunities Project, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Carol R. Ashley, Esq., Of Counsel, Jackson Lewis PC; and Theodore M. Shaw, Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law & the Director of the UNC Center for Civil Rights, UNC School of Law. Dr. Jamal Watson, Executive Editor, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, will moderate this distinguished panel.

David Hinojosa is recognized as a national leading litigator, thought leader and advocate in the area of civil rights, specializing in educational impact litigation and policy. He currently serves as the Director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where he spearheads the organization’s cutting-edge racial justice work in education and leads a team representing college students of color and alumni defending affirmative action admissions plans in three separate cases filed against Harvard College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Texas at Austin. In the Harvard case, he argued before the First Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of student amici, helping to uphold Harvard’s race-conscious admissions.

Carol R. Ashley worked directly on the amicus curiae brief AAAED filed in August before the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the race-conscious admissions programs of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Carol’s experience includes complex sexual harassment and race discrimination investigations and litigation. Over the course of her career, she has also worked as Senior Executive Service career official with the last three presidential administrations, where she provided expert policy and legal advice regarding a federal agency’s enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.

Theodore M. Shaw is the Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Civil Rights at the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill. Professor Shaw teaches Civil Procedure and Advanced Constitutional Law/Fourteenth Amendment. Professor Shaw was the fifth Director-Counsel and President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., for which he worked in various capacities over the span of twenty-six years. He has litigated education, employment, voting rights, housing, police misconduct, capital punishment and other civil rights cases in trial and appellate courts, and in the United States Supreme Court.

Dr. Jamal Watson, who will moderate the panel, is an award-winning journalist and educator. Watson is currently a professor of communications at Trinity Washington University and has held numerous reporting and editing roles at Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. A native of Philadelphia, Watson earned his bachelor’s degree in English and Theology from Georgetown University; a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and a Ph.D. in Afro-American Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

These experts will address the potential impact of the Supreme Court's upcoming decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. the University of North Carolina. To see AAAED’s amicus curiae brief in this case, click here: https://www.aaaed.org/images/aaaed/NC%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf

The AAAED 48th National Conference and Awards Ceremony is open to the press. For registration and information, go to: https://web.cvent.com/event/5080e35e-98b6-4fbf-a7df-874c2e7c8348/summary

Shirley Wilcher AAAED
American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity
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