Athens, Ga. – Robert A. Garda Jr., an expert in education law from Loyola University in New Orleans, will be the featured speaker at various events being hosted by the University of Georgia School of Law and the College of Education.
Garda will address “The Benefits of Diversity for White Students” at a lecture sponsored by Georgia Law’s Education Law Students Association on Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. in the UGA Chapel on North Campus. The event is free and open to the public. The author of a recently published article in the Florida Law Review on a similar subject, Garda’s lecture will focus on the academic and social benefits white students receive in multiracial schools.
Earlier in the day, Garda will participate in a law school debate at 12:30 p.m. in classroom B.
On Feb. 3, Garda will lecture from noon – 1 p.m. in room G-5 of the College of Education’s Aderhold Hall. He will discuss his recent publication, which is titled “The White Interest in School Integration.” The seminar, which is open to the public, is sponsored by the College of Education’s Dean’s Council on Diversity.
A Loyola College of Law faculty member since 2002, Garda is the author of numerous articles and reports on education law. His legal scholarship covers a variety of topics, including the rights of disabled students, affirmative action, integration in K-12 education, special education spending and legal issues surrounding charter schools. He is a graduate of Duke University Law School, where he served as articles editor of the Duke Law Journal. He externed for Justice Michael Zimmerman of the Utah Supreme Court and served as a partner at the Salt Lake City firm Fabian & Clendenin, where he focused on education law, commercial litigation and employment law.
Garda is the past national chair of the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Education Law and currently serves on its executive committee. He is a member of the Louisiana Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Board of Directors for Louisiana Mental Health Advocacy Services. He has worked on projects with the Louisiana Bar Foundation and Louisiana Appleseed. He works with national and local public interest groups on education and disability issues and is a frequent commentator in the Louisiana media on education issues. He was awarded the 2010 Good Apple Award from the Appleseed Network and the 2009 Gillis Long Poverty Law Center Public Service Award for his public service.
In addition to the events at UGA, Garda will deliver a lecture on Feb. 3 at Clarke Central High School.
Garda’s recent article, “The White Interest in School Integration,” can be viewed at
www.coe.uga.edu/diversity/files/2012/01/Garda-article-The-White-Interest-in-School-Integration.pdf.
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