No one thinks it will be easy. One obstacle, advocates say, is a lack of role models. Black sports celebrities are household names, but some young athletes may never encounter a Black medical professional. “People don’t believe they can become what they don’t see,” says Mark R. Brown, the athletic director at Pace University.
Pace University Public Administration Professor Sheying Chen was invited as part of a global expert panel in a live show discussion aired by China Radio International (CHINA PLUS) about a growing concern regarding China’s youth nowadays. Can China’s Generation Z be called Generation Nationalists? Listen to the World Today podcast.
Says Mark Fichtenbaum, a CPA, lawyer and professor at Pace University: “There’s been too much publicity [about the loopholes] in magazines like yours.” In short, even Republicans might sign off on a crackdown, as they did recently with inherited IRAs. It pays to be prepared for a tougher go on your 1040.
Professor Danielle B. Shalov explains why New York state must expand its long-term eviction prevention programs to avoid an onslaught of evictions and court filings in an informative article in Westchester Business Journal.
Andrew O. Coggins, Jr. Clinical Professor, Associate Director, BHP NYC, Pace University, Lubin School of Business. How much can the best travel credit cards save frequent travelers? If they include lounge membership and accelerated mileage accumulation, they can save a lot, especially when non-travel spend is also accelerated (Big deal in time of COVID).
"Any aviation biofuels commitment, whether voluntary or mandatory, will spur efforts to produce biofuels, said Craig Hart, a professor at Pace University's Elisabeth Haub School of Law and executive director of its Pace Energy and Climate Center, for "Biden, Airlines' Jet Fuel Emissions Goals In For Bumpy Ride."
Results of the first Pace University Business Poll have been released and, despite mounting scientific evidence of the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines and government efforts to promote their use, more than one-third of businesses surveyed reported they would not require their employees to be vaccinated
S. Brian Jones, Pace University’s assistant dean for diversity and equity in theater and media arts, wants young artists to stop waiting for someone else’s approval. He’s leading the charge in giving Pace students the tools they need to write their own success stories.
“The only box you have to think outside of is the one you create yourself. If you don’t create a box, you’re just free to think.”
S. Brian Jones is Pace University’s first assistant dean for diversity and equity in theater and media arts, and he’s on a mission to empower students to think beyond the mainstream power structures in Hollywood and New York.
In addition to overseeing the Pace’s Storytelling for Equity and Inclusion Fellowship, Assistant Dean Jones is working with faculty to develop a new major: writing for diversity and equity in theater and media arts. “I have a lot of experience in programming and outcomes. I wanted to make sure that we were creating something that would go beyond the status quo and actually move things forward.”
"We can guide underserved and underrepresented communities to see their own power, find the audiences they resonate with, go out and source the money, and then take their work all over the globe.”
Jones is looking at how this program can do more to meet the needs of 21st-century students. “Diversity and equity have become big buzzwords, and everyone comes to those words with a different perspective. What I don’t want to happen is for people to get caught up in having to figure out what those words mean.” As faculty members have been exploring the kind of citizen artist this program will serve, Jones has been reaching out for input from a variety of top industry professionals.
In theater and media arts, opportunities are passed on through connections—and people coming up in the business scramble to get a seat at the tables of power. “I want this major to prepare students to excel—and also to invert the power structure. Look at artists like Sara Jones or Tig Notaro: They didn’t try to fit into mainstream standards. They went out and made something successful, and then Hollywood came to them. That only happened because they were able to see the value in themselves. That’s what this program could do.”
“We can teach students how to find their authentic voice and also how to understand the business side of the business—how to write a grant and apply for fellowships—while also being able to distinguish between opportunities that move them toward their goals versus the ones that get them off track. We can guide underserved and underrepresented communities to see their own power, find the audiences they resonate with, go out and source the money, and then take their work all over the globe.”
Professor and NYC Design Factory director Andreea Cotoranu is teaching students how to solve tomorrow’s problems. In partnership with major corporations and international collaborators, students have pitched ideas like noise-absorbing drones, massive-scale food cooling systems, and a modern take on teen furniture design.
Singer. Model. Medical assistant. There’s no end to what Brian Powell ’21 can accomplish as a health science major on the pre-physician assistant track who creates art in his spare time. To top it off, he also wrote a research paper on racial patient bias in healthcare.
When Justin Brandon was a child, he loved to take things apart to figure out how they worked. Now he’s at Pace, completing a degree in computer studies with a focus on cybersecurity and computer forensics.
Premiering nationwide this Friday, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, is a socially conscious drama thriller based on the true story of a case that Elisabeth Haub School of Law Professors Randolph McLaughlin and Debra Cohen have worked on for ten years.
Premiering nationwide this Friday, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, is a socially conscious drama thriller based on the true story of a case that Elisabeth Haub School of Law Professors Randolph McLaughlin and Debra Cohen have worked on for ten years. The law school is located in White Plains, the very city where the dramatic events took place.
In 2011, Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an elderly African American veteran with bipolar disorder, was killed during a conflict with police officers dispatched to check on him after his medical alert device was mistakenly activated. The film recounts the excessive and brutal force executed by the police in their response to this non-threatening situation and provides a lens for society to reflect on the reform needed in policing tactics and our social justice system.
“This film is a tremendous opportunity to help not only bring the case into national focus, but to highlight the important issues – how police respond to aided calls versus criminal calls, how they police in African-American communities, and how they are trained to diffuse situations involving people in mental health crisis,” said Professor McLaughlin. “What was done was a text book ‘not to do’ if their intention was to de-escalate the situation and provide assistance.”
According to McLaughlin, when the police arrived, Mr. Chamberlain was asleep in his bed and made more than 60 attempts over the course of an hour and twenty minutes to explain that he did not call for help, did not need help and did not want to open his door. “When we heard the audio recording, we were shocked at the inhumanity demonstrated by law enforcement,” said Adjunct Professor Cohen. “Mr. Chamberlain had no agency over his own fate.”
The husband and wife legal team of McLaughlin and Cohen co-chair the Civil Rights Practice Group of Newman Ferrara LLP in Manhattan. They were asked to join the case by colleagues and fellow Haub Law alumni Mayo Bartlett and Wali Muhammad in 2012. A $21 million civil rights lawsuit was filed in federal court against the City of White Plains and several police officers.
The couple were compelled by the outrageous circumstances of the case and the resolve of Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. to find the truth about his father’s death. “Kenneth has channeled his anger and grief into creating a movement to reform police practices and provide other families with the support they need,” said Cohen. “I thought of my own father at that age who had cognitive challenges, and what that would have been like. I was certain he wouldn’t have been treated the same in this situation.”
The legal fight for justice has spanned over the past ten years, with a case currently still pending in federal district court in White Plains. Less than one year into legal proceedings, a grand jury declined to vote for an indictment, causing an uproar in the community and among social justice advocates. Another letdown came in 2017 when the district court dismissed most of the claims contained in a new lawsuit and excused several of the original defendants, including police officers. Following four-years of pre-trial motions, in 2020, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, restored claims of unlawful entry and non-lethal excessive force. Professors McLaughlin and Cohen are now preparing, with the legal team, for trial and hope that with the need for police reform gaining traction across the country, justice for Mr. Chamberlain Sr. can finally be achieved.
“No matter how hard you work as a lawyer it’s almost impossible to convey a victim’s point of view when a voice can’t be heard and they can’t testify for themselves,” added Cohen. “This film shows us the perspective of the man who is on the other side of the door and gives him a voice that we hope can inspire change.”
The film, which will be available in theaters and on demand on Friday, September 17, was produced and directed by David Midell, along with acclaimed actor, director and producer Morgan Freeman as an executive producer. Actor Frankie Faison plays Mr. Chamberlain Sr. in the film, which won the jury and audience awards at the 2019 Austin Film Festival where it debuted. Visit the Killing of Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain for more information.
Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law offers J.D. and Masters of Law degrees in both Environmental and International Law, as well as a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) in Environmental Law. The school, housed on the University’s campus in White Plains, NY, opened its doors in 1976 and has over 9,000 alumni around the world. The school maintains a unique philosophy and approach to legal education that strikes an important balance between practice and theory. Haub Law launched its Environmental Law Program in 1978, and it has long been ranked among the world’s leading university programs, with a current #1 ranking by U.S. World and News Report.