Major Figures In Landmark Affirmative Action Cases To Speak At UC

The affirmative action debate moves front and center in October, when the principal figures on both sides of this summer's landmark Supreme Court decisions headline a symposium on the topic at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

Kirk O. Kolbo, the plaintiff's attorney who delivered the oral arguments before the Supreme Court on both University of Michigan cases, and Marvin Krislov, vice president and general counsel at the University of Michigan, are among a panel of five presenters slated for "Law, Ethics, and Affirmative Action in America." The symposium is Oct. 7 from 9-11:45 a.m. in Room 114 of the College of Law. It is free and open to the public.

Both will make presentations in the wake of the June 23 Supreme Court decisions on the affirmative action policies of Michigan's law school and at the undergraduate level. The court upheld the law school's affirmative action policy in Grutter v. Bollinger, but struck down the implementation of affirmative action practiced at the undergraduate level at Michigan in its Gratz v. Bollinger decision.

Also presenting will be faculty members from three institutions:

• Ronald Dworkin of New York University and the University College, London, is a well-known legal and moral philosopher who has written extensively in favor of affirmative action.
• Robert B. Westmoreland of the University of Mississippi teaches moral, political and legal philosophy.
• Verna L. Williams of the University of Cincinnati College of Law has interests in family law and gender discrimination, and helped organize a conference featuring leading academic voices from law schools in Cincinnati prior to the Grutter v. Bollinger case being heard by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

The moderator for the symposium is Joseph P. Tomain, the dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law. It is co-sponsored by the UC College of Law and the UC Law Review.

The symposium is the first program presented as part of a proposed new MA program in law and ethics at UC. When fully established, the interdisciplinary program will include courses from UC's law, philosophy, business and medical curriculums, as well as classes offered by Hebrew Union College and Xavier University.

A schedule for the symposium appears below.

9 a.m. -- Keynote speaker Ronald Dworkin

9:45 a.m. -- Marvin Krislov

10:15 a.m. -- Kirk O. Kolbo

10:30 a.m. -- Robert B. Westmoreland

10:45 a.m. -- Verna L. Williams

11 a.m. -- Ronald Dworkin

11:15 a.m. -- Question and Answer period