2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Social justice focus of student, alum conference
Sara Molinaro
Issue date: 3/12/07 Section: Campus News
Criminal defense, environmental law, civil liberties and international law were among the many areas of expertise shared by alums who returned to campus this weekend for a two-day conference called "Advancing Social Justice Through the Law." Over 100 people attended the conference, held in Smith-Buonanno Hall.
The conference was designed to "bring together like-minded people and to try to make connections between what people are doing on campus and outside of campus," said Leo Beletsky MPH'04, one of the conference's organizers and a law student at Temple University.
The conference featured a series of panels on topics such as gay rights, environmental law, criminal defense and drug regulation. The panels included faculty moderators and alumni speakers who work in the relevant fields.
Providence Mayor David Cicilline '83 gave the conference's opening address, discussing his path to politics through legal training and work as a juvenile public defender. Cicilline, who co-founded the Brown Democrats while a student at Brown, called being a public defender a "positive and meaningful experience" but said he felt he could have more of an impact on disadvantaged youth by working in politics.
Cicilline said he ran for mayor in 2002 - as former Providence Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci faced corruption charges - because he "really believed that we needed to do something differently" and that the city would be best served by an open, honest government. Cicilline wanted to use his administration to "show that people's lives could be improved by an honest government," he said.
After discussing his experiences with social justice and the law, Cicilline urged students in the audience to become involved in change. "We need the passion, idealism and energy of young people," he said. "You have enormous power as students of this University to help effect social justice and public policy."
The conference's keynote address was delivered by James Forman '88, a law professor at Georgetown University and former Supreme Court clerk who worked as a juvenile public defender for several years. He was the co-founder of the Maya Angelou Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. - named for Forman's godmother - which actively recruits students involved in the juvenile justice system or the abuse and neglect system.
The conference was designed to "bring together like-minded people and to try to make connections between what people are doing on campus and outside of campus," said Leo Beletsky MPH'04, one of the conference's organizers and a law student at Temple University.
The conference featured a series of panels on topics such as gay rights, environmental law, criminal defense and drug regulation. The panels included faculty moderators and alumni speakers who work in the relevant fields.
Providence Mayor David Cicilline '83 gave the conference's opening address, discussing his path to politics through legal training and work as a juvenile public defender. Cicilline, who co-founded the Brown Democrats while a student at Brown, called being a public defender a "positive and meaningful experience" but said he felt he could have more of an impact on disadvantaged youth by working in politics.
Cicilline said he ran for mayor in 2002 - as former Providence Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci faced corruption charges - because he "really believed that we needed to do something differently" and that the city would be best served by an open, honest government. Cicilline wanted to use his administration to "show that people's lives could be improved by an honest government," he said.
After discussing his experiences with social justice and the law, Cicilline urged students in the audience to become involved in change. "We need the passion, idealism and energy of young people," he said. "You have enormous power as students of this University to help effect social justice and public policy."
The conference's keynote address was delivered by James Forman '88, a law professor at Georgetown University and former Supreme Court clerk who worked as a juvenile public defender for several years. He was the co-founder of the Maya Angelou Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. - named for Forman's godmother - which actively recruits students involved in the juvenile justice system or the abuse and neglect system.