Kirwan Institute to host symposium on diversity, rights

COLUMBUS – The attorney who defended the University of Michigan this year before the U.S. Supreme Court in affirmative action lawsuits will be a part of a Kirwan Institute symposium that will examine diversity and affirmative action in the United States and Latin America.

John Payton, regarded as one of the nation’s premier civil rights litigators and a partner in the Washington-based law firm of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering, will speak from noon to 1 p.m. Monday (10/13) at the Moritz College of Law, Drinko Hall Auditorium, 55 W. 12th Ave.

The International Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG), which collaborates with affirmative action proponents toward similar efforts in Brazil and Uruguay, will hold a panel discussion on the growth of human rights in Latin America from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Nilcea Freire, president of the State University of Rio de Janeiro-Brazil, will be a guest panelist.

Professor john a. powell, executive director of the Kirwan Institute for Race and Ethnicity and the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Moritz College of Law, will moderate both sessions. The events are open to Ohio State faculty, staff and students.

WHAT:Kirwan Institute will host symposium on diversity and human rights.

WHEN:Monday (10/13) from noon to 1 p.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

WHERE: Moritz College of Law, Drinko Hall Auditorium, 55 W. 12th Ave

WHY: To examine diversity and affirmative action in the United States and Latin America with noted scholars.