Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 24, 2003|Volume 32, Number 8

Lani Guinier

Alumna to discuss role of
affirmative action in academia

Lani Guinier '74 LAW, a former civil rights attorney who now teaches at Harvard Law School, will be among the speakers during the Yale Law School Alumni Weekend, taking place Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

This year's reunion weekend is marking the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board Education decision, which abolished the segregation of America's public schools.

Guinier will deliver the James A. Thomas Lecture on Friday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. in Rm. 127 of the Law School, 127 Wall St. Her talk, titled "Out of the Grutter and into the Mainstream: From Adversity to Diversity," is free and open to the public.

In her talk, Guinier will use the recent Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action in higher education admissions -- Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger -- as the beginning of a deeper consideration of the social responsibilities of universities. The former case affirmed the use of race in admissions and the importance of diversity in higher education. "[B]ecause it embraces democratic legitimacy as a justification for diversity, the opinion also offers a long-overdue opportunity to refocus the conversation on the distributive and functional role of higher education in a democracy."

Furthermore, she says, measures of merit currently used in the admissions process, such as test scores and school rankings, "have failed to allocate scarce educational opportunities in a manner that is consistent with democratic values." She suggests that examining the underlying inequalities in the admissions process could create "opportunities for grassroots coalitions that include both people of color and poor and working-lass whites, and that unite urban and rural constituencies."

When she joined the Harvard Law School faculty in 1998, she became the first black woman tenured professor in the school's history. She is the Bennett Boskey Professor there.

A civil rights attorney who served in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division in the Carter administration, and later as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Guinier first came to public attention in 1993 when former President Clinton nominated her to be the first black woman to head the Civil Rights Division. After her name was put forward, conservatives attacked her views on democracy and voting, driving Clinton to withdraw her nomination without a confirmation hearing.

She has since spoken out on issues of race, gender and democratic decision-making and calls for public discourse on these issues.

Her books include "The Tyranny of the Majority," "Becoming Gentlemen: Women, Law Schools and Institutional Change," "THE MINERS CANARY: Rethinking Race and Power" and a personal and political memoir, "Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice."

Guinier has been recognized with many awards and honors, including the Champion of Democracy Award from the National Women's Political Caucus, the Rosa Parks Award from the American Association of Affirmative Action and the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award from the American Bar Association.

Other reunion events

Members of 12 Law School classes will return to campus for their reunions, which will also feature a series of panel discussions related to the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Among the topics being explored are "Yale Law School Alumni Supreme Court Clerks During the Brown Era," "Re-imagining Equality: Social Movements Transforming and Extending Brown," "Brown 'On the Ground': The Elusive Quest for Desegregation in Schools and Housing," "Race and Political Representation" and "Race and Crime: Has Anything Changed?" Speakers include faculty from Yale and other universities, alumni and civil rights activists.

Law School alumni will also attend receptions and dinners for their classes, hear a concert by the Salt and Pepper Gospel Singers, take part in a run around the city of New Haven and other activities. Alumni registration begins at noon on Friday, Oct. 31.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Historian Frank M. Turner named Beinecke director

Center for Study of Globalization to host talk by President Clinton

Alumna to discuss role of affirmative action in academia

'Crouching Tiger' director to speak on Taiwanese cinema

"Discover the Arts at Yale"

Yale University Standards of Business Conduct

Famed conservationist Richard Leakey to visit as Chubb Fellow

Panel to look at 'Iraq Beyond the Headlines'

Yale scholars to explore challenges facing China's economy

Peabody exhibit showcases 'Rainbows in Stone'

New center will enhance teaching of French in Connecticut schools

Astronomer's talk brings mysterious cosmos to an earthly level

Yale singers to take audiences on 'tour' of famed operas

Yale Cancer Center names associate director for policy

Mathematicians to fete Feit at conference Oct. 30-Nov. 2

Conference participants consider future of globalization

Coats needed for 'Surviving a New England Winter' program

Local musicians to take the stage at The Little Theatre . . .

Campus Notes