Campus & Community

Race and Our Communities to Explore Race, Justice, Violence and Police in 21st Century America

Thursday, September 1, 2016, By News Staff

Tonight, Syracuse University will host the inaugural Fall 2016 Symposium on Race and Our Communities: Race, Justice, Violence and Police in 21st Century America.  The symposium will provide an opportunity for candid conversation about racial inequality, community relations, police brutality and other forms of violence.  The event begins at 5 p.m. in Goldstein Auditorium, Schine Student Center, and will include student speakers, a keynote address by Dr. Marc Lamont Hill and an esteemed panel of scholars, activists and experts.

American Sign Language (ASL) and Communication Access Real Time (CART) interpretation will be available for each event. If you have requests for accessibility and accommodations, please contact the Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services (EOIRS) office at 315.443.4018.

The keynote address delivered by Dr. Hill will focus on this racial violence and the racial inequalities throughout the United States, and offer ways to take action to address oppression and reduce racial violence.

Hill, an award-winning journalist and author, is host of HuffPost Live, BET News and VH1 Live, and a political contributor for CNN.  As an activist and scholar, Hill has spent much of his career working with nonprofit organizations and campaigns.  He is also a Distinguished Professor of African American studies at Morehouse College.

Moderating the evening’s panel discussion, which will immediately follow Dr. Hill’s remarks, is Keith A. Alford, director of the School of Social Work and associate professor of social work in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. Panelists include:

  • Keith J. Bybee, professor, College of Law and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and director of the Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media
  • Tony Callisto, senior vice president and chief law enforcement officer, Syracuse University
  • Bea González, dean of University College, special assistant to the Chancellor and former president of the City of Syracuse Common Council
  • Benjamin Jealous, civil and human rights leader, former NAACP president, venture capitalist and Author
  • Jordan Shelby West, Ph.D. student in cultural foundations of education and coordinator, Conversations About Race & Ethnicity (C.A.R.E.) dialogue program

The symposium is free; however, tickets are required. Tickets are available at the Schine Student Center Box Office right up until the beginning of the program. Students, faculty and staff must present their valid Syracuse University ID.