Affirmative Action One Year Later: A Conversation with Devon Westhill 

Center for Equal OpportunityRacial Preferences, Uncategorized

This article originally appeared on Philanthropy Round Table This month marks the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decisions in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and the Students Against Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina cases. These seminal decisions ended racial preferences in college admissions processes, also known as affirmative action, after the court ruled in 2023 that the schools were violating the civil rights of certain students based on race.   Philanthropy Roundtable Adjunct Senior Fellow Patrice Onwuka spoke with Devon Westhill, president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO), about the ripple effect …

Peter Abernathy joins CEO as Visiting Legal Fellow

Center for Equal OpportunityKeeping Up with CEO

The Center for Equal Opportunity is excited to welcome back to the team Peter Abernathy as Visiting Legal Fellow. Peter returns to CEO after participating in CEO’s inaugural Civil Rights Fellowship in 2022. Peter is a 2024 graduate of George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School and currently serving as a law clerk to the Hon. Caroll A. Weimer of the Thirty-First Circuit Court of Virginia. Before college, Peter served for two years as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Londrina, Brazil. After concluding his full-time missionary service, Peter earned dual degrees in Geospatial …

Equality and Equity: Contemporary Debates about Civil Rights in the Era of DEI

Center for Equal OpportunityVoting Rights

A Luncheon Discussion on Civil Rights When:Wednesday, May 22, 202412:00 – 2:00 PM ET Where:The Mayflower Hotel1127 Connecticut Ave NWWashington, DC 20036 Cost:This event is free to attend.Registration is required.Lunch will be provided. The event will be livestreamed onThe Federalist Society YouTube channel. Registration is not required to view the livestream. On July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson after having overcome one of the fiercest and longest filibusters in the history of the United States Senate. The new law marked an historic victory for civil rights activists seeking equal opportunity …

CEO Selects Third Annual Class of Civil Rights Fellows

Center for Equal OpportunityAbout CEOUSA

Dear Friends, It is with great joy that we introduce to you the 2024 class of CEO civil rights fellows. Between Monday, August 5 and Friday, August 9, 2024, fellows will participate in an intensive seminar-style program in Washington, D.C. This fellowship is a first-of-its-kind program within which fellows receive instruction and training in civil rights caselaw, enforcement practices, and public policy. For example, fellows will learn the history of major civil rights laws, become familiar with major Supreme Court decisions in this area, and learn about current controversies surrounding civil rights law and enforcement. The seminars will be led by law and policy experts, …

ACR Project and CEO File Brief Challenging SEC Approval of Discriminatory NASDAQ Requirement

Center for Equal OpportunityEmployment

The ACR Project and the Center for Equal Opportunity together filed an amicus brief on behalf of Cory R. Liu with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, supporting a challenge to the SEC’s 2021 approval of NASDAQ’s alteration of its listing requirements.  Those requirements force listed companies to: (a) disclose how many directors they have; and (b) (i) produce stats showing a sufficiently “diverse” set of directors across various identitarian classifications to satisfy NASDAQ; or (ii) explain in writing why they don’t.*, ** Our full brief is below. Building on Mr. Liu’s work in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/UNC, where …

2024 CEO Civil Rights Fellowship Begins Accepting Applications

Center for Equal OpportunityAbout CEOUSA

It is with great joy that the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) announces and begins accepting applications today for its 2024 Civil Rights Fellowship. The program, which will take place between August 5-9, 2024 is intended for law students with an interest in a career in a public, private, or nonprofit setting where their instruction and training can be shared with the public, the courts, and/or through policy development. LEARN MORE Related posts: TESTIMONY OF ROGER CLEGG, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, CENTER FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BEFORE THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS REGARDING THE PROPOSED EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT CEO Launches Inaugural …

10th Annual Federalist Society Florida Chapters Conference Panel on Students for Fair Admissions

Center for Equal OpportunityEducation

The panel discussed how these decisions are transforming the admissions process in higher education and the impact on the legal profession. Included in the discussion will be the response from academia, the permissible limits of the use of race in admissions after these decisions, and what impact this is expected to have on corporate America and the legal profession. Featuring: Prof. Tracey Maclin, Raymond & Miriam Ehrlich Chair in US Constitutional Law , University of Florida Levin College of LawCameron Norris, Partner, Consovoy McCarthy PLLCDevon Westhill, President and General Counsel, Center for Equal OpportunityModerator: Hon. Meredith Sasso, Justice, Florida Supreme …

CEO Writes to California Senators in Opposition to ACA-7

Center for Equal OpportunityRacial Preferences

For nearly 30 years, California residents have been in a pitched battle with their state government to oppose efforts to divvy them up by their race. In 1996, Californians voted to amend their constitution to prohibit the state from discriminating in employment, education, and contracting on the basis of race and other immutable characteristics. The 55% to 45% vote on Ballot Proposition 209 (Prop 209) was a major victory for colorblind equal opportunity for all Californians. The Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) was involved in advocating for that successful nearly three-decade-old campaign and in opposing every attempt since to overturn …

SFFA and Beyond [NLC 2023]

Center for Equal OpportunityEducation

This year the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. The Court held that the admissions programs of Harvard College and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court’s ruling elevates a colorblind reading of the Fourteenth Amendment. In the college admissions context, the decision makes unconstitutional certain policies that would favor one applicant over another on the basis of that applicant’s race. College admissions offices across the country will have to alter the policies they’ve used for decades. How …