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Title VI Compliance: Preventing and Addressing National Origin and Shared Ancestry Discrimination and Harassment

Speaker Biographies

Kelly HendrickenKelly Henricken joined the State University of New York Office of General Counsel in 2018 and currently serves as Managing Counsel for Student Affairs. As Managing Counsel, Kelly provides legal support for all State-operated campuses supported by the System Administration office, where she leads the Student Affairs Practice Group (SAPG). Kelly also provides other specialized legal support to SUNY System Administration in regard to various policies and practice areas, including residency for in-state tuition purposes and name, image and likeness issues for student-athletes. Kelly provides legal advice in the areas of student affairs including Title IX and First Amendment issues, labor and employment, litigation, statutory interpretation, federal and state legislation and regulation, copyright, and others. 

Prior to SUNY, Kelly served as the Director and Counsel of the New York State Senate Higher Education Committee for Chairman Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, where her portfolio included matters relating to all colleges and universities in the public and private sectors of higher education, as well as all licensed professions under Title VIII of the Education Law. Kelly wrote legislation, provided policy analysis on matters concerning the Higher Education portfolio, participated in State Budget negotiations, and worked with legislative offices to negotiate legislation in the Committee. Prior to that, Kelly was a legislative fellow for the New York State Senate Graduate Fellowship Program, where she worked with Senator Martin J. Golden, the Chair of the Senate Civil Service and Pensions Committee.  

A native of Long Island, Kelly received her Juris Doctor from Albany Law School and is a proud graduate of SUNY Geneseo, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English (Creative Writing Track) and Psychology. As a SUNY Geneseo student, Kelly conducted psychological research on issues related to adolescent development and sexual and interpersonal violence, and was Green Dot trained in bystander intervention. 


Whitney Pellegrino

Whitney Pellegrino is Of Counsel at Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter, PLLC. She is an expert in civil rights issues in education. She provides specialized and strategic legal counsel for colleges, universities, K-12 schools, and other institutional clients navigating federal government investigations, high-profile civil rights complaints, and civil rights and other constitutional litigation. She helps clients proactively manage their legal obligations and brings subject matter expertise to clients at all stages of litigation related to federal enforcement of civil and constitutional rights.   

In investigations, client counseling, and litigation, Whitney routinely navigates complex legal questions and issues of first impression about schools’ obligations with respect to Title IX, Title VI, the First Amendment, parental rights, due process, religious accommodations, social media, and Greek Life, among other pressing issues. With her deep subject matter expertise and experience helping schools find workable solutions to complex problems, Whitney is uniquely positioned to tackle the multitude of civil rights issues that threaten her clients’ mission, reputation, and financial integrity.   

In addition to representing educational institutions, Whitney also represents individuals in education and employment matters and offers co-counsel and expert consultant services and training to offices of State Attorneys General, law firms, and other legal organizations and nonprofits working on education-related investigations and litigation. 

Prior to joining Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter, Whitney was the Principal Deputy Chief of the Educational Opportunities Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. As the second ranking education attorney in the Civil Rights Division, Whitney led DOJ’s work to combat discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, sex, and disability in educational institutions across the country. She played a substantial role in formulating the federal government’s litigating position on federal civil rights statutes and regulations that apply to schools, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act. Whitney has decades of experience conducting DOJ investigations, advising federal agencies on enforcement of federal funding statutes, and litigating cutting-edge civil rights cases for the federal government.  

Whitney graduated magna cum laude from Oberlin College and received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served on the Editorial Board of the Virginia Law Review.