home


September 2020 Virtual
CLE Mini Workshop

A Reckoning on Race for Higher Education: Next Steps and Legal Considerations for Campuses

SPEAKER BIOS

Understanding and Responding to Racial Justice Protests: Students, Free Speech, and University Police
12:00 P.M. – 1:15 P.M. ET

Featured Session - Melissa HollowayMelissa Jackson Holloway has served as General Counsel for North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, located in Greensboro, North Carolina, since May 2019.  She previously served as Deputy General Counsel for Ball State University, in Muncie Indiana (2015-2019), General Counsel (2009-2015) for North Carolina Central University, a public HBCU located in Durham, NC and for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (2001-2009). Mrs. Holloway is a 1996 honors graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School. She graduated from Syracuse University with a BS in Business and Administration/Economics in 1991 and from the State University of NY at Binghamton in 1993 with a MS in Political Science and Public Administration. After law school, Ms. Jackson practiced for five years with the law firm of Foley & Lardner in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ms. Holloway’s areas of specialty include employment law, board governance, AA and EEO, open records and meetings and FERPA. Melissa served on the NACUA Board of Directors (Class of FY 2016-2019) and currently serves as Chair of the Committee on Membership and Member Services.

Bhabha_IshanNamed as one of Law360’s 2019 Appellate Rising Stars, Ishan K. Bhabha is a partner in Jenner & Block LLP’s litigation department and a member of the Appellate and Supreme Court Practice Group. Since joining the firm in 2012, his practice has focused on complex issues of regulatory, constitutional, and commercial law. Ishan’s practice has a particular focus on issues facing institutions of higher education including Title IX, Free Speech, NCAA Compliance and Copyright. Prior to joining Jenner & Block, Ishan clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and worked at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Art Coleman HeadshotArt Coleman is a managing partner and co-founder of EducationCounsel LLC.  He provides policy, strategic, and legal counseling services to national non-profit organizations and postsecondary institutions throughout the country, where he addresses policy and legal issues associated with student access, diversity, inclusion, expression, and success. Mr. Coleman was instrumental in the establishment of the College Board's Access and Diversity Collaborative (ADC) in 2004, which he has helped lead for 15 years.  With a focus on issues of diversity and inclusion, he has authored amicus briefs in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), Gratz v. Bollinger (2003), and in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (I and II, 2013 and 2016).  He is widely published in the field, including as co-author of Understanding Holistic Review in Higher Education Admissions: Guiding Principles and Model Illustrations (College Board, 2018).   Mr. Coleman previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, where, in the 1990s, he led the Department’s development of the Department’s Title VI policy on race-conscious financial aid, as well as OCR’s first comprehensive Title IX sexual harassment policy guidance.   He is a member of the Board of Directors of GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network); the Lab School of Washington, which serves students with learning differences; and a past chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Higher Education Policy.   A former litigator, 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 has testified before the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.  He has also served as an adjunct professor at two law schools and at two graduate schools of education.  He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, where he teaches a course on enrollment management law and policy.

Ronnell HigginsChief Ronnell Higgins has served as Yale University’s Chief of Police since 2011 and, concurrently, as Director of Public Safety since 2015. In these roles, he oversees a department comprising 93 sworn officers and a Public Safety Department with more than 100 staff—all working to ensure and maintain the safety of students, faculty, and staff throughout the campus. Fiscal responsibility includes managing an operating budget and oversight of 3 collective bargaining units.  
As Yale University’s Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety, Chief Higgins been highly instrumental in significantly reducing crime on campus, reducing UCR crimes to their lowest levels since Yale began reporting in 1985. Chief Higgins has developed a reputation for thought leadership in on-campus policing and is recognized as a talented facilitator of greater integration (merging both the urban and the academic). He was appointed to serve on the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Justice System by Connecticut State Senator Martin Looney and appointed a member of the Police Officers Standards and Training Council (POSTC) by Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy. He is an Executive Fellow with the Police Foundation and serves as an Executive Board Member with My Brothers' Keeper Mentoring Initiative. A past president of the South Central Connecticut Chiefs of Police, Chief Higgins serves on the executive board for the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives for Connecticut (NOBLE). 
Chief Higgins holds a Master of Arts degree in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security in Monterey, CA. A graduate of the FBI’s National Academy, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law Enforcement Administration from the University of New Haven and a certificate in Law Enforcement Education from the University of Virginia.

Achieving Your Institutional Mission: Diversity and Inclusivity in Faculty, Leadership & Curriculum
2:00 P.M. – 3:15 P.M. ET


Photo of Sara Gross MethnerSara Gross Methner is general counsel and secretary of the University of St. Thomas, the largest private, nonprofit university in Minnesota, with approximately 10,000 students. Sara joined St. Thomas in 2011 as its inaugural general counsel and also served as chief human resources officer until 2014. Before joining St. Thomas, she served as a managing director in the Hong Kong and Minneapolis offices of Piper Jaffray Companies (now Piper Sandler), an investment bank and institutional securities firm, where her positions included assistant general counsel and head of compensation, general counsel and chief administrative officer for the firm's Asia business, and finally international general counsel. Sara previously practiced law in the corporate group of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where she advised on corporate governance, securities, executive and equity compensation, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate matters. She began her career as a legislative assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., where she focused on health care, energy and international trade issues. Sara graduated from Wellesley College with a bachelor's degree in Chinese language and literature and received her law degree from Stanford Law School. She is a former member of the NACUA board of directors and currently serves on its Committee on Finance and Audit. She also serves on the boards of the YWCA St. Paul and DeLaSalle High School, the NCAA General Counsel Advisory Board, and the Legal Services Review Panel of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.  Sara is a former member of the NACUA Board of Directors.    
Dennis MitchellDennis A. Mitchell, D.D.S., M.P.H, serves as the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement at Columbia University, Senior Associate Dean for Diversity for the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine (CDM) and Professor of Dental Medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center. As Vice Provost, he implements the program elements of the University’s ongoing financial commitment (currently totaling $185 million) to enhance the diversity of the faculty, and works with the leaders of each of Columbia’s schools to evaluate and strengthen their diversity initiatives. Dr. Mitchell has been on the Columbia faculty since 1991 and has shown a deep commitment to the oral health needs of underserved populations in the communities surrounding Columbia. He is a Co-Principal Investigator for Columbia’s Summer Health Professions Education Program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and for the Summer Public Health Scholars Program funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Together, these two pipeline programs bring over 125 young scholars from underrepresented groups to the Columbia campus each summer. Dr. Mitchell previously served as the Director of the Harlem component of the Community DentCare Network for Columbia, and as Director of Research and Community Dentistry at Harlem Hospital. He oversaw the development, implementation and evaluation of Columbia’s offsite dental service programs in Harlem, which is now responsible for over 20,000 patient visits annually.
Lorena PenalozaLorena Peñaloza became Chief Campus Counsel for the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), one of the ten campuses in the University of California system, in March 2017.  She provides advice to the campus on a broad range of legal issues, including employment, police, and student safety and conduct issues. She reports jointly to UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal and UC system Senior Vice President and General Counsel Charles Robinson and serves on their respective leadership teams.
Lorena previously worked for the Office of General Counsel for the California State University system, where she first served as a litigator and then as University Counsel for two of the system’s twenty-three campuses.  Prior to joining CSU, she served as Assistant City Attorney with the City Attorney’s Office for the City of Santa Ana, and began her legal career with the Social Security Administration’s Office of the General Counsel in Maryland through the Presidential Management Fellowship (formerly known as Presidential Management Internship) program.  
Lorena has been a NACUA member since 2008.  She has served on several committees, including the 2009 and 2018 Annual Conference Planning Committees.  She holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
Henry MorrisHenry Morris, Jr. is Partner at Arent Fox in Washington DC. Mr. Morris focuses his practice on counseling and litigating employment, labor, and education law cases. He has advised clients regarding and handled cases involving equal employment opportunity, employee discipline and discharge, employment torts, breach of contract, trade secrets, non-compete agreements, fair labor standards, plant closings, reductions-in-force, successor employer responsibilities, workers' compensation, and unemployment compensation. Mr. Morris is a member of Arent Fox's Diversity Committee and Employment Committee. Mr. Morris represents clients in a wide range of industries. These industries include retail, education, healthcare, construction, property management, broadcast, communications, entertainment, building service contracting, and hospitality. He also has represented several governmental entities. Mr. Morris is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. And he is the firm's contact with the Employment Law Alliance, an international consortium of some of the world's leading management-side employment lawyers. Mr. Morris is a frequent lecturer and has written articles on a wide range of labor and employment issues. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and Virginia Bar. He received his JD from Columbia University School of Law in1983, and his AB from Columbia College, Columbia University, in 1978.