Loyola University to hold forums on race and immigration

New Orleans CityBusiness, Feb 23, 2007 by CityBusiness Staff Report

Race and immigration will be key topics during Loyola University New Orleans' spring President's Forums on Current Issues and Controversies.

The first forum, scheduled for 7 p.m. March 26 in Roussel Performance Hall, will focus on race.

The second forum, scheduled for 7 p.m. April 10 in Nunemaker Auditorium, will focus on immigration.

"I hope these events will encourage productive dialogue as New Orleans moves forward in rebuilding a more just city for all its residents," said the Rev. Kevin Wildes, Loyola's president.

All forums are free and open to the public.

"Resurrecting Dr. King's Dream: The Challenge of Integrity on Post-Katrina New Orleans" will featured a lecture by Michael Cowan, professor and special assistant to the president at Loyola.

Respondents will be Loyola alumni and law classmates, including former Mayor Moon Landrieu and Norman Francis, president of Xavier University and recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Officials said the lecture will focus on racial tensions in New Orleans that have continually stunted the region's economy and steadily diminished the city's population.

"America's Immigrants: New Perspectives from New Orleans on the National Debate" will features Kevin Johnson, associate dean for academic affairs and the Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicano Studies at the University of California Davis School of Law; Donald Kerwin, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc.; and Luz Molina, clinical professor of law at Loyola's College of Law.

Officials said immigration is an issue of great importance to the Catholic church and increasingly important to post-Katrina New Orleans, where the presence of immigrant workers has resulted in some racial and ethnic tension.

The forum will explore the issue of immigration in the context of national and legal communities.

Loyola's President's forums, featuring internationally recognized scholars, seek to explore and discuss some of the most compelling contemporary issues facing the community.

The forum's goal is to develop a discussion with the community to deepen understanding and challenge the community to move toward a more just and enlightened society.

For more information on, contact the Loyola's Office of Public Affairs at 861-5888 or publaff@loyno.edu or visit http:// www.loyno.edu/presidentsforum/.>

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