Keynote Speakers

Session Summary: Our nation, society, and the planet depend more than ever on including all talent in the biological sciences and other STEMM fields for a positive future.  Yet, we are in a period that poses legal and political challenges—while also offering many opportunities—to advance equitable and diverse fields that are crucial to that end.  Jamie Lewis Keith, J.D., the Distinguished Senior Law and Policy Fellow at EducationCounsel, will elevate participants’ understanding of how the education/research ecosystem in the biological sciences can seize available opportunities to successfully navigate the challenges. The challenges include the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/University of North Carolina, which does not outlaw higher education’s equity- and diversity- dependent mission or subjects related to race.  Rather, the ruling limits one—and only one—of the means to achieve these interests, while expressly endorsing another.  Also included are policies in some states that, unlike the Court’s ruling, outlaw equity, diversity and race-related subject matter content in public education’s programs, offices, and job duties, raising serious First Amendment issues.