Spring 2014: Pursing the Dreams of Brown and the Civil Rights Act: A Living History of the Fight for Educational Equality

In this historic symposium, the Michigan State Law Review worked in conjunction with the Michigan State University College of Education and the University of Missouri-Kansas City to present scholars reflections on Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Hosted by Michigan State University College of Law Professors Kristi Bowman and Nicholas Mercuro, the event was part of the university-wide commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of Brown and the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The symposium took place on April 10-11, 2014.

Read Volume 2014’s Spring 2014 Symposium Articles here.

Schedule of Events

Thursday, April 10, 2014

9:00 a.m. Welcoming Remarks

Joan W. Howarth, Dean, Michigan State University College of Law

Donald Heller, Dean, Michigan State University College of Education

Kristi Bowman, Professor, Michigan State University College of Law

9:30 a.m. Mendez v. Westminster (1946)

Moderator: Kristi Bowman, Professor, Michigan State University College of Law

The Honorable Federick Aguirre, Judge, Superior Court of Orange County

Gonzalo Mendez, Litigant

Sylvia Mendez, Litigant

Sandra Robbie, Mendez archivist

Philippa Strum, Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

11:00 a.m. Break

11:15 a.m. Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Part I: Litigants and Attorneys

Moderator: Steven Brown, WGTV Public Radio Executive Producer

George Brookover, Partner, Brookover, Carr & Schaberg

Son of expert witness in Brown

Patricia Edwards, Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University, Department of Teacher Education

One of the students to integrate public schools in Albany, Georgia

Jack Greenberg, Alphonse Fletcher, Jr. Professor of Law, Columbia Law School

Member of the NAACP's legal team in Brown and the companion cases

Cheryl Brown Henderson, Founding President, Brown Foundation

Daughter of Oliver Brown

Leola Montgomery

Wife of Oliver Brown and mother of Cheryl Brown Henderson

12:45 p.m. Lunch

1:45 p.m. Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Part II: Scholarly Perspectives

Moderator: Danielle Holley Walker, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law

Charles Hamilton Houston, Jr., Historian and Lecturer

Son of Charles Hamilton Houston

Vanessa Siddle Walker, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Educational Studies, Emory University, Division of Educational Studies

Darrell Jackson, Assistant Professor, University of Wyoming College of Law

3:15 p.m. Break

3:30 p.m. The Education Provisions in the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Moderator: Atiba Ellis, Associate Professor, West Virginia University College of Law

Allison Brown, President, Allison Brown Consulting

Former attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Education Opportunities Section

Ken Ferguson, Associate Professor, UMKC School of Law

Robert L. Green, Retired Dean, Michigan State University College of Urban Development

Southern Christian Leadership Conference Education Director 1965-1966

Howard Glickstein, Professor, Touro Law Center

Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice during the 1960s

The Honorable Nathaniel Jones, Retired Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Kenneth Teasdale, Retired Chairman, Armstrong Teasdale

Key legislative staffer involved in drafting the Civil Rights Act

8:00 p.m. Keynote Address

Welcome: Kristi Bowman, Professor, Michigan State University College of Law

Introduction: David Thronson, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Michigan State University College of Law

Gary Orfield, Professor of Education, Law, Political Science and Urban Policy, UCLA Graduate School of Education; Co-director, The Civil Rights Project at UCLA

Friday, April 11, 2014

9:30 a.m. Milliken v. Bradley (1974)

Moderator: Joyce Baugh, Professor, Central Michigan University, Department of Political Science

Derek Black, Professor, University of South Carolina School of Law

Charles Clotfelter, Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics and Law, Duke Sanford School of Public Policy

The Honorable Nathaniel Jones, Retired Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

General Counsel for the NAACP during Milliken

Thomas M.J. Hathaway, Of Counsel, Clark Hill

Counsel for the school board in Milliken

Ray Litt, Litigant

Mark Litt, Litigant

John Runyan, Managing Director, Sachs Waldman

Former law clerk to Judge Roth

11:00 a.m. Break

11:15 a.m. Missouri v. Jenkins (1995)

Moderator: Daniel Weddle, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of Academic Support, UMKC School of Law

Arthur Benson, Arthur Benson & Associates

James Bothwick, Of Counsel, Husch Blackwell

Counsel in Jenkins

John Munich, Partner, Stinson Leonard Street

Counsel in Jenkins

Gregory Goheen, Shareholder, McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips

Counsel in a parallel case in Kansas City, Kansas

Basil L. North, Jr., Partner, Basil L. North, Jr. & Associates

Counsel in Jenkins

Burnele Powell, Miles and Ann Loadholt Professor of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law

Wendy Parker, Professor, Wake Forest School of Law

12:45 p.m. Lunch

1:45 p.m. Parents Involved v. Seattle (2007) & Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education (companion case)

Moderator: Darrell Jackson, Assistant Professor, University of Wyoming College of Law

John Borkowski, Partner, Hogan Lovells

Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, University of California Irvine School of Law

Michael Dumas, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

Teddy B. Gordon, Attorney at Law

Counsel in Meredith

Byron Leet, Partner, Wyatt Tarrant & Combs

Counsel in Meredith

Julie Nelson, Former Director, Seattle Office for Civil Rights

Daniel Ritter, Retired Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine

Counsel in Parents Involved

Danielle Holley Walker, Dean, Howard University

3:15 p.m. Break

3:30 p.m. Looking to the Future

Moderator: Kimberly Jenkins Robinson, Professor, University of Richmond School of Law

John Borkowski, Partner, Hogan Lovells

Maurice Dyson, Associate Professor, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Erica Frankenberg, Assistant Professor, Pennsylvania State University College of Education

David Hinojosa, Regional Counsel San Antonio Office, MALDEF

Dennis Parker, Director, ACLU Racial Justice Program

Benjamin Superfine, Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education

5:00 p.m. Concluding Remarks

Previous
Previous

Fall 2014: Public Domain(s): Law, Generating Knowledge, and Furthering Innovation in the Information Economy

Next
Next

Fall 2013: Whether the U.S. Should Become a Party to the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women