ONU to host affirmative action national briefing

The Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law will present a discussion about affirmative action in the Celebrezze Moot Court Room on Wednesday, March 21, at 2 p.m.

Titled “Defending the Promise of ‘Brown’: A National Briefing on the Legal Status of Affirmative Action, Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education and Beyond,” the presentation is sponsored by the Pettit College of Law, the Ohio Northern University Office of Multicultural Development, and the American Association for Affirmative Action (AAAA) – Regions IV and V.

Featured speakers will be Shanta Driver, national chair of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) and director of the Michigan-based United for Equality and Affirmative Action Legal Defense Fund, and Shirley Wilcher, executive director of the AAAA and president of Wilcher Global LLC.

Under Driver’s leadership, BAMN has become a leader of the movement for immigrant rights. BAMN also has been active in the fight to defend public K-12 education in predominantly black and Latino urban districts. She has been a guest speaker at hundreds of colleges and universities, public television and radio talk shows. Among the awards she has received are the AAAA Rosa Parks Award, the Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth Humanitarian Award, the National Society of Black Engineers’ “Fulfilling the Vision of Tomorrow” Award and the National Lawyers Guild-Detroit Unsung Hero Award.

Wilcher is a leading authority on equal opportunity and diversity policy. She currently is president of Wilcher Global LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in diversity management, affirmative action, contract compliance, and government relations. During the Clinton administration, Wilcher served a near seven-year term as deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). She has spoken in many venues about civil rights and affirmative action and is a founding member of the National (Political) Congress of Black Women.

This event is free and open to the public.

Published: Wed, 02/29/2012 - 3:32pm