Law panel to discuss race, students’ constitutional rights and the media at American universities

A panel of speakers and representatives from Quinnipiac University, the University of Connecticut and the local media will gather in the Ceremonial Courtroom at the Quinnipiac University School of Law Center, 370 Bassett Road, on Tuesday, Feb. 16, to participate in the “Diversity Town Hall: Navigating Race and the Constitutional Rights of Students and the Media at American Universities.” The Young Lawyers Section of the Connecticut Bar Association is presenting the program, which runs from 6-8 p.m. Halloran & Sage LLP is the program sponsor.

Karen DeMeola, vice president of the Connecticut Bar Association, will moderate the discussion. The panel includes: Eleanor JB Daugherty, associate vice president and dean of students, University of Connecticut; Nicole Fournier Gelston, associate general counsel, University of Connecticut; Leslie C. Levin, professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law; Sydney Parkmond, a law student at Quinnipiac and president of the Black Law Students Association; and Jeevan Vittal, reporter and anchor at WTIC-TV, Fox 61.

The speakers will share their experiences in addressing and representing student groups, steps taken to promote productive discourse and simultaneously protect universities from liability and negative press. They also will discuss how to best reconcile concerns over the potential limiting of free speech with the need to foster a welcoming and safe environment for the student community.

The ongoing national debate over how to protect privacy and First Amendment rights on college campuses while embracing diversity involves students, administrators and the press in equal measure. Panelists will discuss this topic, offering a wide variety of perspectives and insight of on-campus representatives who grapple with and give care­ful consideration to these issues every day. They also will discuss the role of the press and students in reporting on protests and campus developments and the ways in which technology has made it easier than ever to record and disseminate student opinion to a national audience.