Press Releases

Friday: Members to Hold Forum on Affirmative Action, Racial Climate on College Campuses

Washington, DC, September 7, 2017

ON FRIDAY, September 8th, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives will hold a forum entitled “Affirmative Action, Inclusion, and Racial Climate on America’s Campuses.” Amidst national conversations on white supremacy, xenophobia, and racial inequality, reports surfaced suggesting that the Trump Administration has plans to reexamine the values of racial diversity on campuses.

This forum will convene student officers, representatives from institutions of higher education, and key legal experts to discuss the role of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in ensuring that students are welcomed to a safe, inclusive learning environment free of harassment and intimidation on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

WHO:           

  • Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member, Committee on Education & the Workforce
  • Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13), Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary
  • Additional Members of Congress
  • Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
  • Richard Cohen, Executive Director, Southern Poverty Law Center
  • Theresa Sullivan, President, University of Virginia
  • Dr. Benjamin Reese, Vice President of the Office for Institutional Equity, Duke University
  • Roger Worthington, Chief Diversity Officer, University of Maryland
  • Taylor Dumpson, Student President, American University
  • Weston “Wes” Gobar, President, Black Student Alliance, University of Virginia
  • Payton Head, Former Student Body President, University of Missouri

WHAT: FORUM ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, RACIAL CLIMATE ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

WHEN: FRIDAY, September 8, 2017 at 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: 2203 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515                     

RSVP:  Media interested in attending should RSVP to Shadawn.reddick-smith@mail.house.gov.