University Professor Peter Blanck to deliver message for start of Yom Kippur

University Professor Peter Blanck to deliver message for start of Yom KippurSeptember 29, 2006SU News ServicesSUnews@syr.edu

Peter Blanck, University Professor at Syracuse University and an internationally recognized expert on disability law and health policy issues, will deliver a D’var Torah — special high holiday message — to students, parents and members of the SU and broader Central New York communities on Sunday, Oct. 1, at 6:15 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel as part of the Kol Nidre Service sponsored by Hillel at Syracuse University.

The Kol Nidre service marks the beginning of Yom Kippur, which comes at the end of 10 days of repentance and introspection, also known as the Days of Awe. These high holy days begin with the holiday of Rosh Hashanah that marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year. A D’var Torah is words and teachings that help those present to gain new insights on the meaning of this reverential day. Yom Kippur is also marked by a complete fast, which lasts more than 24 hours to enhance the meaning of this special day. The tradition of a faculty/staff D’var Torah began in 2003, and speakers have included SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor.

University Professor is the highest faculty rank at SU, and has been granted to only a handful of individuals in the history of the University. Blanck is chair of SU’s Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) and holds SU academic appointments at the College of Law, the College of Human Services and Health Professions, The College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Prior to his appointment at SU, Blanck was Kierscht Professor of Law and director of the Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center at the University of Iowa.

Blanck is a former member of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, a senior fellow of the Annenberg Washington Program, a fellow at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School and a Mary Switzer Scholar.

He has written articles and books on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related laws, received grants to study disability law and policy, represented clients before the U.S. Supreme Court in ADA cases, and testified before Congress.

Among his writings are “The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Emerging Workforce” (AAMR, 1998), “Employment, Disability, and the Americans with Disabilities Act” (Northwestern Univerity Press, 2000) and “Disability Civil Rights Law and Policy” (with Hill, Siegal & Waterstone, West, 2003, 2005). In addition, Blanck is a co-editor of the Cambridge University Press Disability Law and Policy series.

Blanck is a board member of the National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.), Disability Rights Law Center (DRLC) and Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), and he is a trustee of the YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network. Prior to teaching, he practiced law at the Washington, D.C., firm Covington & Burling, and served as law clerk to the late Honorable Carl McGowan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Blanck received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Rochester; a juris doctorate from Stanford University, where he was president of the Stanford Law Review; and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Hillel at Syracuse University is affiliated with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world. Hillel provides opportunities for Jewish students at more than 500 colleges and universities to explore and celebrate their Jewish identity through its global network of regional centers, campus foundations and Hillel student organizations. Hillel’s mission is to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world. Hillel helps students find a balance in being distinctively Jewish and universally human by encouraging them to pursue Jewish learning, tzedek (social justice) and tikkun olam (repairing the world).

For more information contact Marcy Miller, assistant director, Hillel at Syracuse University at (315) 442-5042.