Pioneering Black Professor To Keynote Symposium

 BURLINGTON, VT - The University of Vermont's fourth annual professional development symposium addressing diversity and equality issues in education, the Blackboard Jungle, is March 24 to 25 and launches with a keynote speech by Lani Guinier, the first black woman granted tenure at Harvard Law School.

Guinier’s talk, "Diversity, Opportunity, and the Shifting Meritocracy in Higher Education," is Thursday, March 24 in Ira Allen Chapel from 7 to 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

During the 1980s, Guinier was head of the voting rights project at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She came to public attention in 1993 when she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to head the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, only to have her name withdrawn without a confirmation hearing. Guinier turned that incident into a personal and political memoir, Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice.

The theme of this year’s symposium is “Engaging the Silences: Transformative Conversations in the Classrooms and in the Community.” With the exception of the keynote address, registration is required. There is a $20 fee for UVM employees and $30 for all others.

Blackboard Jungle, an initiative of the Chief Diversity Office, is designed to help educators address the complexities of the 21st century classroom with emerging approaches to equality, social justice and cultural competence. A wide range of preeminent speakers, workshops and panel discussions will address issues from immigration, race and religion; healthcare disparities; dealing with privilege; and marginalization of LGBTQ students.