News Releases
Diversity in business focus of Indiana Supreme Court Lecture
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Recent demands by federal officials regarding affirmative action in law school admissions and their impact on corporate America will be the topic of the Valparaiso University School of Law’s annual Indiana Supreme Court Lecture.
Dennis Archer, former mayor of Detroit and chairman of Dickinson Wright, will discuss “The Business Case for Diversity: Actions of the Department of Education and the Civil Rights Commission May Have an Adverse Impact,” at 11 a.m. Oct. 11 in Wesemann Hall on campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Archer served as Detroit’s mayor from 1994 to 2001 and won international respect for his success in improving the city’s image, including being named Public Official of the Year by Governing magazine in 2000. He is chairman of the Detroit-based law firm Dickinson Wright and serves of the boards of Johnson Controls Inc., Compuware Corp. and Masco Corp.
While American businesses and law firms recognize the importance of hiring more women and people of diverse ethnic groups, Archer’s lecture will explore recent actions by the Department of Education and Civil Rights Commission related to constraining affirmative action in law school admissions. Those actions, with the potential to affect colleges and universities across the country, could harm the ongoing efforts of businesses and law firms to hire more diverse workforces, Archer says.
The lecture is co-sponsored by the Valparaiso University School of Law and the Indiana Supreme Court. The annual Indiana Supreme Court Lectures are made possible by the generous support of the Indiana Supreme Court. The court’s current justices include Robert D. Rucker, a graduate of Valparaiso Law.
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