Bill Clinton (constitutional expert) to Speak 2/10 at Columbia U. on Brown v. Board of Education

Columbia Spectator ^ | Feb. 10 2004 | Megan Greenwell

[mountaineer]

Close to 500 people are expected to fill Low Library tonight to hear former U.S. President Bill Clinton deliver an address commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case.

Clinton, a constitutional rights attorney before becoming president in 1992, will speak at Columbia for the first time tonight as part of the School of Law's year-long celebration of the landmark case. Clinton will join University President Lee Bollinger, also a constitutional scholar, in a 7:30 p.m. speech expected to involve extensive security.

Although many law students and faculty members were given coveted tickets to the event, passes for undergraduates were rare. Columbia College Democrats President Zac Frank, CC '05, was given 10 tickets to distribute as he saw fit, but most students were left empty-handed.

"I exchanged several phone calls after I heard that the College Dems secured tickets," said Ilana Golant, CC '04 and the president of the Columbia Political Union. "I know that the tickets [for undergraduates] went entirely to the Dems and they selected students to go--presumably just their loyal members."

Golant added that she had offered to conduct a lottery process for those interested in attending the event, which Frank admitted he did not support.

"A lottery system would have just been silly," Frank said. "It made much more sense to give them to student leaders. ... I gave them to people involved in different organizations that are political or have been involved in Brown v. Board-type issues."

Frank and Golant agreed that the University could have done more to include undergraduates in the event.

"I wish it was open to more undergraduates," Frank said. "It wasn't a very open process."

Golant added that her group had been given tickets to several of the previous world leaders speeches, and she hoped that coordinators might give the CPU a last minute call today.

[mountaineer]

"Clinton, a constitutional rights attorney before becoming president in 1992 ..."

Perhaps that was thrown into the story for comic relief.

[mountaineer]

ADVISORY for Tuesday, Feb. 10 - Clinton Address

Columbia University, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education; Distinguished Participants Include Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Lawyers in Brown

NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- Columbia University and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) will host a year-long celebration in honor of the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education -- the landmark case in which the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state-imposed racial segregation in public schools violates the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection of the laws. Jack Greenberg (CC '45, Law '48), a Columbia Law School professor, other Law School graduates and faculty were among the attorneys who represented the African-American plaintiffs.

"Fifty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, declared the 'separate but equal' doctrine to be unconstitutional and closed the book on a chapter of profound injustice in our nation's education system," said Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger. "In partnership with the NAACP LDF, and under the expert guidance of Jack Greenberg, a renowned civil rights leader who helped argue that case, we begin a year-long commemoration of this groundbreaking decision and a series of reflections on its continuing significance."

The inaugural event, which took place on Monday, February 2, 2004, provided an opportunity for those who worked on this historic case to explore its origins and scope, and to make an evaluation of its success. It brought together Mrs. Thurgood Marshall, the widow of the attorney who represented the plaintiff in the case, and lawyers who played an integral role in the case, including Hon. Robert L. Carter (Law '41 LL.M.), Professor Jack Greenberg (CC '45, Law '48), Judge Louis H. Pollak, and Judge Jack B. Weinstein (Law '48 and longtime member of the faculty). Oliver Hill and Judge Constance Baker Motley (Law '46) also participated via live video conference. These distinguished guests were welcomed by Columbia Law School Dean David Leebron and the NAACP LDF's President Elaine Jones and President-Elect Theodore M. Shaw (Law '79).

"Cases like Brown do not simply happen," said Columbia Law Dean David Leebron in his opening remarks at the inaugural event. "This case, probably the most important constitutional law case of the last 100 years, is a demonstration of just how much talented and passionate lawyers can achieve."

Former U.S. President William J. Clinton, who will deliver an address on February 10, 2004 to students and faculty at Columbia University's Low Library, echoed this sentiment.

"Brown v. Board of Education was the seminal moment of the modern civil rights era and remains one of the most important cases in American legal history," said President Clinton. "Even more than being a precursor of the struggles to come, the Brown decision offered a vision of a new and better America. With Brown v. Board, America took a giant step toward living out the creed of equality enshrined in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. I am pleased to be able to attend this 50th anniversary celebration of Brown v. Board of Education, and thank Columbia University and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for hosting such an important event."

He will be preceded by Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger (Law '71), a noted First Amendment scholar and Prof. Greenberg, who was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001 by President Clinton for his enduring work in defense of civil rights.

"In time, Brown v. Board of Education became even more significant than a decision that required desegregating schools," said Prof. Greenberg, reflecting on the events of five decades ago. "It became a springboard for the civil rights movement, leading to the Civil Rights Acts of the mid-1960s and major shifts in the status of black Americans and politics as we knew it before 1954."

The events which commenced during Black History Month will continue through December 2004. Future anniversary events will explore topics such as "America Before Brown," "Equality," "The Mystery of Brown," "Fairness in Equality in Criminal Justice," "Brown: The Arts and Culture," "Brown's Role in Changing the Judicial System," "Brown and the Law of Other Nations," and "Brown and the Future of Racial Justice." Speakers range from academicians to civil rights leaders to world leaders.

For more information, please visit www.law.columbia.edu.

http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/spew4th.pl?ascribeid=20040209.133527&time=14%2036%20PST&year=2004&public=1

[An.American.Expatriate]

Could Somebody Frrep this and ask the "expert" exactly which rights the constitution has granted to the people??

I'd simply love to hear his answer . . . .

[OldFriend]

Has the rapististgroperliarimpeachedone gotten his law license back yet?

[mountaineer]

I don't believe so, not that he really needs it - the only time he even came close to practicing was when he was Arkansas Attorney General. I doubt he ever set foot in a courtroom or drafted a pleading.

[An.American.Expatriate]

Frrep = Freep! Geez, need more coffee (or less??)

[Semper Paratus]

Will he talk about Arkansas church burnings he saw?

[mountaineer]

Why not? Segregation, church burnings - it's all the Republicans' fault anyway.

[mabelkitty]

This is rich - a disbarred attorny speaking to an Ivy League College.

How shameful.

Might as well have Johnnie Cochran talk. At least he is still employable.

[Paleo Conservative]

Golant added that she had offered to conduct a lottery process for those interested in attending the event, which Frank admitted he did not support.

"A lottery system would have just been silly," Frank said. "It made much more sense to give them to student leaders. ... I gave them to people involved in different organizations that are political or have been involved in Brown v. Board-type issues."

"I exchanged several phone calls after I heard that the College Dems secured tickets," said Ilana Golant, CC '04 and the president of the Columbia Political Union. "I know that the tickets [for undergraduates] went entirely to the Dems and they selected students to go--presumably just their loyal members."

I'm sure tickets for Freepers would be out to the question.

[Piranha]

"...I gave them to people involved in different organizations that are political or have been involved in Brown v. Board-type issues."

rmlew, I don't suppose any of your cookie-seller friends were given any of these tickets for being involved with Brown v. Board-type issues, were they?

[Piranha]

"...I gave them to people involved in different organizations that are political or have been involved in Brown v. Board-type issues."

rmlew, I don't suppose any of your cookie-seller friends were given any of these tickets for being involved with Brown v. Board-type issues, were they?

[antisocial]

Anybody know when white history month is?

[mountaineer]

a disbarred attorny speaking to an Ivy League College.

A disbarred attorney, impeached president and unindicted sexual offender! Not only that, to tout him as a "constitutional scholar" is a stretch, to say the least (and an insult to real scholars everywhere).

[sergeantdave]

Clinton, a constitutional rights attorney....

Which constitution, the communist Soviet Union or Himmler's 1942 statement "On the Treatment of the Land in the Eastern Territories?"

[leadpenny]

Check here later: http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/fullschedule.csp

The schedule for today is not yet complete and I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be there later.

[Sloth]

Clinton, a constitutional rights attorney before becoming president in 1992

HUH? He was governor then, and attorney general before that, and he taught at the University of Arkansas law school. But when was he a 'constitutional rights attorney'?

[Piranha]

According to the University of Arkansas website, President Clinton joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1973, teaching Trade Regulation, Admiralty, Criminal Procedure, Federal Jurisdiction and Constitutional Law. He left at the end of 1976 to begin work as Attorney General of the State of Arkansas.

He may have been morally repugnant and brought shame and discredit to the Presidency, but he was a professor of constitutional law.

[Rummyfan]

Clinton, a constitutional rights attorney before becoming president in 1992

What? When was Clinton ever a practicing attorney specializing in constitutional rights? Mind-boggling!