Kenneth L. Marcus, the Lillie and Nathan Ackerman Visiting Professor of Equality and Justice in America in the School of Public Policy at Baruch College of the City University of New York and chair-designate of SPME’s Legal Task Force will be the next featured speaker in the SPME Conference Call Presentations Series on April 29, 2009 at 3:00 PM Eastern Time. Prof. Marcus will be speaking to faculty colleagues on action strategies for faculty in addressing hate speech and a hostile campus environments.
Space is still available for current SPME contributors ( July 1, 2008-Present).( click here to contribute ), with space available for non-contributing participants on a first come first come service after contributors are accomodated.
Click here to reserve a place for the call. Following the presentation, there will be a question and answer period. Questions may be submitted, in writing by clicking here .
Non-contributors will be notified if places are available on the day of the call.
Prior to joining Baruch College, Prof. Marcus had been the Staff Director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, a position appointed by the President of the United States with the concurrence of the Commission. As Staff Director from 2004 to 2008, he served as the agency’s chief executive officer, responsible for providing leadership and direction to the agency’s staff. It was at this position, he was responsible for the writing and dissemination of the Commission’s report on addressing and combatting anti-Semitism on campus.
As holder of the Ackerman Chair has an important role at Baruch College as he is expected not only to assume the normal teaching and research obligations of any faculty member, but also to engender a thoughtful dialogue in the academy and the public affairs’ community about issues of race and ethnicity. Marcus is teaching two courses in the spring term of 2008: Public Administration in Modern Society and Law for the Education Administrator.
From 2002 to 2004 Mr. Marcus was delegated the authority of Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights and served simultaneously as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education for Enforcement. As head of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Marcus was the principal civil rights advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education and oversaw the resolution of approximately 5,000 civil rights cases per year through OCR’s twelve enforcement offices. Additionally, OCR published a path-breaking report on Achieving Diversity: Race-Neutral Alternatives in American Education (2004). Marcus also served as a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Brown v. Board of Education.
Prior to joining the Department of Education, Marcus worked in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. As head of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO), Marcus was the principal civil rights advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and oversaw the work of FHEO’s 54 offices.
Before entering public service, Marcus was a litigation partner in two major law firms. In the courtroom, he was known for his successful representation of individuals who had been denied constitutional and civil rights, including rights protected under the First Amendment.
A graduate of Williams College, magna cum laude, and the University of California at Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall), Marcus and his wife and daughter live in Leesburg, Virginia.
