Office of Public Relations

Pomona, NJ  08240

 

American Bar Association President-Elect Robert Grey to Speak at Stockton Forum

 

Reflections on 50 Years of the Landmark Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision to be Discussed

 

For Immediate Release  

Wednesday, February 04, 2004

Contact:   Tim Kelly

                  Dorothy Munro

                  Stockton Public Relations

                  (609) 652-4950  (609) 652-4524

 

POMONA, NJ Robert J. Grey, Jr., Esq. and President-elect of the American Bar Association, will serve as the keynote speaker for a special presentation and discussion of the United States Supreme Courts ground-breaking 1954 decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey on Thursday, February 26, 2004.  This lecture is a highlight of Stocktons Black History Semester events.

 

The program, Brown vs. Board of Education: Reflections of 50 Years of Progress and Challenges, will be held from 4:30 p.m. til 6 p.m. in the A-Wing Lecture Hall on the Pomona campus and is free and open to the public.

 

As we mark the 50^th Anniversary of this landmark decision, its important to recognize that Brown is one of the most significant legal actions of the 20^th Century, said Pat Reid-Merritt, Professor of Social Work and Coordinator of Stocktons African-American Studies Program.  Browns ramifications have been felt throughout America and the world, and as we struggle to achieve the dream of full integration, Brown offers the opportunity to reflect on how far weve traveled and how far we have yet to go.

 

Linda Wharton, Visiting Specialist in Constitutional Law and Civil Liberties said following Greys talk there would be a panel discussion and questions would be entertained from the audience.

 

The program will examine the legacy of the Brown decision in New Jersey, focusing both on progress in achieving equity and the continuing challenges such as funding equity, segregation, school vouchers and No Child Left Behind, among other topics.

 

 

The panel, which will consist of a group of individuals who have been involved in issues of race and public education in New Jersey, will offer diverse perspectives on the areas under discussion.  Dr. Reid-Merritt will serve as moderator of the panel dialogue. Speaker, Robert Grey, a lawyer and community leader from Richmond, Virginia, made history at the American Bar Association in 1998 when he became chair of the associations policy-making House of Delegates, the second-highest ranking office in the association.  Grey was the first African-American to rise to such prominence in the ABA.

 

Other panel members will include Dr. T. Napoleon-Smith, a career educator in public education in New Jersey and a current member of the New Jersey State Board of Education, Mr. Stanley Karp, a teacher, school reform activist, and author of Rethinking School Reform, Mr. Gordon MacInnes, Assistant Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education and overseer of the departments Division on Abbott Implementation, and Mr. Jerome Harris, Vice-President of the New Jersey Black Issues Convention, Vice-Chair of the Camden Development Collaborative, and an adjunct faculty member in the Political Science Department at Rowan University.

 

The event is strongly supported by the Presidents Office and the Office of Academic Affairs at Stockton College.  Additionally, sponsors include the Journey Toward Democracy Project (Association of American Colleges and Universities,) the African-American Studies Program, The Council of Black Faculty and Staff, the Stockton Chapter of the NAACP, the Unified Black Students Society, the Holocaust Resource Center, Stockton Action Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE,) and the Office of Housing and Residential Life. 

 

A reception will follow the event.

 

For more information, please contact Linda Wharton, Department of Political Science and Chair of the Brown Event Planning Committee at 609-652-4716.