Clark Atlanta University News November 4, 2014 The Du Bois Institute For Civic Engagement At Clark Atlanta University To Present Forum On Voter Participation The Du Bois Institute for Civic Engagement at Clark Atlanta University (CAU) will present a forum examining voter participation 50 years after the Civil Rights Act on Nov. 14 in the Thomas W. Cole Jr. Research Center for Science and Technology on the CAU campus. The one-day symposium will feature various experts who will explore topics such as new barriers to voting access, voting rights violations, gerrymandering, and ways to increase civic participation. Obie Clayton, Ph.D., chair of the department of sociology and criminal justice at CAU and director of the Du Bois Institute, said, "In 2013, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was found to be unconstitutional, effectively rendered as moot in protecting voter rights. Since then, many organizations and groups have argued that this decision has limited voter participation for many minority groups, when states and jurisdictions engage in documented discriminatory behaviors. Unfortunately, given these abuses, a fully functioning Voting Rights Act is still necessary to protect voters." The featured panelists are: Franita Tolson, J.D., the Betty T. Ferguson Professor of Voting Rights at Florida State University College of Law Dr. Kurt B. Young, professor and chair of political science at Clark Atlanta University Dr. June Gary Hopps, the Parham Professor of Policy at the University of Georgia Dr. Wilbur C. Rich, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of political science (emeritus) at Wellesley College Matthew Platt, assistant professor of political science at Morehouse College Brittany Bramlett, post-doctoral fellow at the University of Georgia Mark Schmitt, director of the program on political reform at the New America Foundation Andra Gillespie, associate professor of political science at Emory University For more information and the complete schedule, call 404-880-6659. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.