UK's Martin School Hosting Major Event on Voting Rights Oct. 13

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2015) — Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former editor of Newsweek, Jon Meacham. The first female African-American reporter and later columnist at The Washington Post, Dorothy Gilliam. A panel of legal experts including an attorney involved in an important North Carolina case on voting rights. Widely read national political correspondent Ari Berman, whose just-published book, "Give Us the Ballot," is receiving wide acclaim.

All of these individuals and others will be at the University of Kentucky on the afternoon and evening of Tuesday, Oct. 13 to participate in a special symposium hosted by UK's renowned Martin School of Public Policy and Administration.

"This is no doubt one of the more significant events held by the Martin School in recent memory," said UK professor Merl Hackbart, and he should know. Hackbart is the same man who was a founding director of the Martin School more than 40 years ago and today serves as the school's interim director. Titled "The Foundation of a Democracy: Voting Rights, Past, Present & Future," the symposium will take place in the Recital Hall of the Singletary Center for the Arts.

Fifty years ago, in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The landmark federal legislation, enacted at the height of the civil rights movement, prohibited racial discrimination in voting.

Gilliam, a much-honored journalist who grew up in Louisville, will provide the overview and historical focus of the afternoon’s keynote presentation at 1 p.m., which also will feature former Lexington Mayor Pam Miller, and Lexington Herald-Leader publisher and president Rufus Friday. Gilliam’s presentation will be followed by Berman, who will focus on recent themes in policy debates.

Former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson will then moderate a discussion of voting rights issues in the states featuring David Becker, director of election initiatives for The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Honorable Pedro A. Cortés, secretary of state for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

U.S. District Judge (retired) Jennifer Coffman will lead a discussion of recent court decisions with Judge Robert Hunter of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, North Carolina voting rights attorney Daniel Donovan, and Josh Douglas, the Robert G. Lawson and William H. Fortune Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “American Lion” and “Franklin and Winston," headlines the evening program, which begins at 7 p.m., also in the Recital Hall of the Singletary Center. His book, "Thomas Jefferson: the Art of Power," was named by the New York Times as one of the best books of the year for 2012.

Meacham will present the inaugural Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Lecture, honoring the late U.S. senator and Kentucky governor. Ford, a longtime advocate for the Martin School, was the principal sponsor of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, sometimes called the “motor voter act.” Meacham’s address is expected to focus on current and future developments in voting rights and elections.

His presentation will be followed by a discussion of future developments with Crit Luallen, Kentucky lieutenant governor and other panelists. UK President Eli Capilouto will give welcoming remarks at the evening session.

Kentucky Educational Television (KET) will televise the entire symposium live on KET KY and KET.org/live, and will air highlights from the Martin School conference on voting rights on both KET2 and KET KY a total of five times between Oct. 18-23.

In addition to the Martin School and KET, other co-sponsors for the Oct. 13 voting rights symposium include UK, the UK College of Law, the UK Department of Political Science, the Council of State Governments, the Kentucky League of Women Voters, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, United Way and other individual symposium supporters.

"This promises to be a compelling and fascinating day on our campus," Hackbart said. "The theme of voting rights in the U.S. is in the news almost every day. The discussion and examination of this subject is very timely, especially with 2016 being a presidential election year."

Both the afternoon and evening programs are free and all are welcome to attend.

MEDIA CONTACT: Carl Nathe, 859-257-3200; carl.nathe@uky.edu.