March 7th, 10am-5pm | Georgetown University Law Center 12th Floor Gewirz

This Symposium will feature renowned attorneys, professors, and organizers as we use the 70th anniversary of Brown as a vehicle to identify and examine issues that impact the educational experiences and outcomes of students of color. We look forward to exploring scholarship and advocacy across different disciplines that can provide remedies and solutions in the persistent struggle for racial equity in education. Register for free here.

With special thanks to our partners: the Office of Journal Administration, Racial Justice Institute, Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic, Georgetown Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and Georgetown Black Law Students Association, Georgetown Latin American Law Students Association, and Georgetown American Constitution Society

AGENDA

10:00–10:15 A.M. | Opening Remarks

10:15–11:50 A.M. | History of Segregation and Inequality and the Impact of Critical Race Theory in Education

• Sonya Douglass, Professor of Education Leadership, Teachers College Columbia University
• Matthew Kautz, Assistant Professor of the Department of Leadership and Counseling, Eastern Michigan University
• Gina Chirichigno, Director, The National Coalition on School Diversity
• Phillip Lee, Professor of Law, St. John’s University School of Law
• Moderator: Diann Rust-Tierney, Executive Director, Racial Justice Institute; Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute; Adjunct Professor of Law

11:50–1:25 P.M. | Examination of School Discipline and Exclusionary Practices 

• Noelia Rivera-Calderón, Staff Attorney, Advancement Project
• Thalia González, Professor of Law and Co-Director at the Center for Racial & Economic Justice, UC Law San Francisco
• Paige Joki, Staff Attorney, Education Law Center
• Moderator: Rebecca Epstein, Executive Director of the Georgetown Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity

2:30–2:50 P.M. | Paper Talk with Professor Camiscoli (Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School)

Prof. Sarah Medina Camiscoli will present her article “Defending Schoolhouse Property: Reimagining Procedural Protections to Block Bans and Power Student Movements,” which will be published in Volume 16 of the Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives. In her presentation, Professor Camiscoli will discuss law-specific concepts like “property interests” and “procedural due process” to create a legally cognizable formulation of student organizers’ demands. She will use movement law to draw on radical student experiments and rebellions as a method of legal interpretation.

Professor Camiscoli will be joined by Da’Taeveyon Daniels, a student organizer from Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) and a community review board member for Professor Camiscoli’s article.

2:50–4:00 P.M. | Affirmative Action in Higher Education 

• Janel George, Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic, Georgetown University Law Center
• James Murphy, Director of Career Pathways and Post-Secondary Policy, Education Reform Now
• Erika Wilson, Professor of Law and Director of the Critical Race Lawyering Civil Rights Clinic, University of North Carolina School of Law
• Moderator: Manny Nimarko, Student Leader, Georgetown Law Black Law Students Association

4:00–4:30 P.M. | Keynote Address with Karla McKanders (Director of the Thurgood Marshall Institute at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund)

4:30–4:40 P.M. | Closing Remarks

SYMPOSIUM COMMITTEE

Chelsea Clayton

Senior Symposium Editor

Chelsea Clayton is a third-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center. She graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History. After earning the opportunity to attend a specialized public high school in New York City, Chelsea became aware of the educational disparities within our society and how those disparities can have an indelible impact on individuals, families, communities, and an entire country. She came to law school to learn how to utilize the law to examine our society and affect systemic change while understanding the importance of building upon the legacy of proactive advocacy of those who envisioned and fought for a more just and equitable society. Chelsea is grateful for the opportunity to create space at Georgetown where we can elevate the experiences of students of color and provide tools to support dismantling unjust laws that negatively impact communities of color.

Mecca Aikens

Mecca Aikens is a 2L at Georgetown University Law Center. She graduated from Mercer University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with minors in Philosophy and Law & Public Policy. Mecca decided to join the Symposium Committee because she believes the topic we’re exploring is of quite importance to today’s society. As part of her undergraduate studies, Mecca developed a project on the racial re-segregation of the Macon-Bibb Community. Since having this experience, she is eager to dive deeper into the interconnections between race and the education system. Mecca hopes that the Symposium sheds even more light on not only the historical impacts of segregation within the education system and Brown v. Board of Education but also the potential impacts (negative or otherwise) of more recent policies, legislation, and judicial decisions on the present and future Black and POC students in America.

Kylie Burke

Kylie Burke is a second-year student at Georgetown Law. She received an Honors B.A. in Political Science and Psychology from Howard University. At Georgetown, Kylie took a “Law and Literacy” course with Professor Roe, where she tutored local elementary school students and focused on the intersection of education law, pedagogy, and public education. The course’s ethos, practicum components, and readings – which included a creative review of Brown v. Board — further motivated her interest in helping to coordinate this year’s symposium on the Struggle for Racial Equity in Education.

Gozie Amaeze

Chigozie Amaeze is a second-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center. She graduated from the University of Georgia, where she majored in International Affairs. While in her first year, Chigozie had the opportunity to take Critical Race Theory, where she learned just how entrenched race is in our legal system. From this class, she realized her passion for making a more equitable law system regarding race, which led her to join MCRP.

Chantal Reyes

Chantal Reyes is a second-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies, where she studied the intersection between racial justice and the environment. While in law school, Chantal has continued these studies with a greater focus on legal advocacy for underrepresented and marginalized communities. Planning this Symposium has been a great opportunity for Chantal to interact with amazing Critical Race Theory scholars around the country and help bring them together to discuss an incredibly important topic while providing information and ways society can support underrepresented students and work towards racial justice in education.

Ebony Williams

Ebony Williams is a second-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center. She graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics. Working on 70 Years Later: Revisiting Brown v. Board of Education and the Struggle for Racial Equity in Education has been such an amazing learning experience for Ebony. She believes that the significance of this topic goes beyond the recent Supreme Court case; it provides an opportunity to acknowledge how far we’ve come while also analyzing modern-day racial inequity in education.