From Law to Action:
Understanding the Supreme Court's Decision in Fisher v.
the University of Texas at Austin

Featuring Terri Taylor, Art Coleman, and Ada Meloy
2:00pm - 3:00 pm, EDT, Thursday, October 10, 2013

Registration Closed

Members: $49, Non-Members: $79

On June 24, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered its decision in Fisher v. University of Texas, the first challenge to the use of race in college admissions considered by the Court since the landmark 2003 University of Michigan cases. Though it preserved the overarching legal framework, Fisher amplifies and clarifies elements of that framework in several ways that should inform and guide institutional action. This webinar will provide a brief background on the legal framework and Fisher itself, analyze the decision, and frame key takeaways and policy implications for diversity officers in light of our ever-diversifying student population and emerging 21st Century college, career, and citizenship goals.

Terri Taylor ([email protected]) is a policy & legal advisor for EducationCounsel LLC, where she provides strategic advice and legal analysis to clients across the education spectrum, with a special focus on issues of access and diversity in higher education and educator effectiveness in K-12. Ms. Taylor is an Education Pioneers alumna. She is also a former teacher and completed a two year tour with the Peace Corps teaching English to middle and high schools students in Kyrgyzstan. Ms. Taylor earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and is barred in New York. She was an Echols Scholar at the University of Virginia and graduated, with distinction, in 2006.

Art Coleman ([email protected]) is a managing partner and co-founder of EducationCounsel. With an extensive background in providing legal, policy, strategic planning, and advocacy services to educators throughout the country, Mr. Coleman focuses on issues related access and diversity, accountability and accreditation, and student privacy, among others. Mr. Coleman served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights from June 1997 until January 2000, following his three-and-a-half year tenure as Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. Mr. Coleman is a 1984 honors graduate of Duke University School of Law and a 1981 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Virginia. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Higher Education Policy and a board member of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

Ada Meloy Since her arrival at ACE in 2007, Ada Meloy has focused on a wide range of legal issues in higher education including ethical and conflict issues faced by institutions and their faculty, staff and administrators. She has been featured as an expert on issues related to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and other concerns arising from campus violence. Meloy has led numerous amicus briefs in the appellate courts on issues of importance to higher education, and served as ACE's representative on the Higher Education Coalition for Patent Reform that resulted in passage of the America Invents Act.

Meloy joined ACE after a distinguished 28-year career at New York University’s Office of Legal Counsel. She served as deputy general counsel for over 10 years and as acting general counsel for NYU in 2005-06, handling a wide range of legal matters including academic disputes, discrimination issues, tenure, grievance and discipline matters, and intellectual property litigations. Prior to joining NYU, she was an associate at the New York law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Meloy is a graduate of Wellesley College (MA), where she was a Wellesley Scholar. She earned her JD from the NYU School of Law in 1973.