News & Events
Rita Geier, Fran Ansley, Michael Lieberman, and Tad Stahnke
Combating Discrimination: International, National, and Regional Challenges for the Next Administration and Congress
The UT College of Law welcomed a distinguished panel of experts Nov. 12 to discuss "Combating Discrimination: International, National, and Regional Challenges for the Next Administration and Congress."
The program was arranged by the College of Law's Committee on Community.
The panelists — Prof. Fran Ansley, University of Tennessee College of Law Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus; Michael Lieberman, Washington Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League; and Tad Stahnke, Director of Human Rights First's Fighting Discrimination Program — discussed the role of lawyers in designing and implementing strategies to combat discrimination, hate crimes, and related problems on the local, national, and international level. In addition to highlighting avenues of alternative legal practice, the panelists focused on key policy concerns related to discrimination and diversity for the incoming Congress and presidential administration on the heels of the November election.
This event was moderated by Rita Geier, Associate to the Chancellor and Senior Fellow at the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Panelists (Click on name for bio)
- Prof. Fran Ansley, University of Tennessee College of Law Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus
- Michael Lieberman, Washington Counsel, Anti-Defamation League
- Tad Stahnke, Director, Fighting Discrimination Program, Human Rights First
Moderator
- Rita Geier, Associate to the Chancellor and Senior Fellow at the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville
About the Committee on Community
The College of Law’ s Committee on Community was created fifteen years ago to promote a sense of community, common ground, tolerance, and inclusiveness among students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Since then, the Committee has endeavored to promote a shared sense of community and a commitment to mutual respect among women and men of all races, religions, ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientation at the law school. In keeping with this goal, the Committee has, over the years, undertaken a variety of activities, including examining the relationship between the law school and its African-American alumni, conducting “listening sessions,” and examining and reporting on the nature of relationships among students, faculty, and staff. As a part of our shared conversation, the Committee organizes an annual Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon hosted in faculty offices, to explore and discuss the life and teachings of Dr. King and his continuing relevance to our lives. The Committee also sponsors a variety of guest lecturers and programs throughout the academic year. Across all these activities, the Committee is constantly seeking new ways to facilitate sharing insights and encouraging dialogue to sustain and strengthen an environment in which everyone at the law school is vested and welcome.
Speaker Bios
Prof. Fran Ansley, University of Tennessee College of Law
Fran Ansley earned her JD from the University of Tennessee in 1979 and her LL.M from Harvard in 1988, spending several years as a personal injury litigator in Knoxville between these two stints in law school. She taught for 18 years at the College of Law before retiring in 2007. Her current interests, both as a researcher and as an advocate for social justice, focus largely on the rights and well-being of low-wage workers and on the particular problems facing international migrants in today’s global economy. Her recent scholarly and creative activities include serving as principal humanities adviser on the documentary film “Morristown: In the Air and Sun,” and co-editing a book soon to be published by the University of Tennessee Press entitled Global Connections and Local Receptions: Latino Immigration to the Southeastern United States. Ansley is active on the Legal Committee of the Rapid Response Coalition, a joint undertaking of Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. The goal of Rapid Response is to reduce the negative impact of mass immigration raids on immigrant workers, their families, native-born workers, and the community at large.
Michael Lieberman, Washington Counsel, Anti-Defamation League
Michael Lieberman has been the Washington Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League since January, 1989 and also serves as Director of the League’s Civil Rights Policy Planning Center. One of three registered lobbyists in Washington for the ADL, Mr. Lieberman helps coordinate the ADL's involvement in legislative initiatives before Congress and helps to develop and implement ADL policy positions on a wide range of domestic and international affairs. He previously served as the ADL's Midwest Civil Rights Director in Chicago.
Before coming to work for ADL in September of 1982, Mr. Lieberman served as Legislative Assistant and Counsel in Washington to former Representative Dan Glickman, who served as the Secretary of Agriculture in the Clinton Administration. He also worked for former Representative Tony Hall (D-OH).
Mr. Lieberman received his B.A. from the University of Michigan where he majored in Judaic Studies and International Relations. He received his law degree from Duke University where he served as a member of the Duke Law Journal, and Editor-in-Chief of the Duke International and Comparative Law Institute.
He has participated in a number of academic and law enforcement seminars on hate violence and is the League’s point person on Federal and state response to bias-motivated crimes. He also writes frequently on religious freedom issues and the importance of church-state separation.
Tad Stahnke, Director, Fighting Discrimination Program, Human Rights First
As Director of the Fighting Discrimination Program, Tad Stahnke leads Human Rights First’s effort to combat discrimination by reversing the tide of antisemitic, anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim violence and reducing other bias crime in Europe, the Russian Federation, and North America through research, analysis, and advocacy.
Prior to assuming his role at Human Rights First, Tad worked at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom from 2000 to 2007, where he served as Deputy Executive Director for Policy, as well as Acting Executive Director in 2002 and 2007. Tad participated in fact finding missions to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China, Russia, Egypt,France, and Belgium, and led a mission to Pakistan. He served with several official U.S. delegations to human rights conferences of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the United Nations. He has also served as an expert in international human rights law in training officials from the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security.
Tad has worked as a Research Fellow and Lecturer at Columbia Law School, teaching a seminar on “Religion, Human Rights, and Religious Freedom,” and as an Associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. He holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School, a Masters in Urban Planning from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service, and a B.A. in Metropolitan Studies from NYU. Tad was also a law clerk to Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the United States Court of Appeals for the 2d Circuit. Tad has authored and coauthored numerous scholarly publications, including “Religion-State Issues and the Right to Freedom or Religion or Belief: A Comparative Textual Analysis of the Constitutions of Predominantly Muslim States,” “Religious Diversity in the European Union: an International Human Rights Perspective,” “The Right to Engage in Religious Persuasion,” and Religion and Human Rights: Basic Documents, amongst others.
Rita Geier, Associate to the Chancellor and Senior Fellow at the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Ms. Geier is Associate to the Chancellor and Senior Fellow at the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where she leads and coordinates efforts to achieve the university’s intercultural and diversity goals and to examine and promote solutions to critical public policy issues. She assumed these positions following an extensive career in Federal service, most recently as Executive Counselor to the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) from 2001 to 2007 and Associate Commissioner and Deputy Associate Commissioner for Hearings and Appeals from 1992 to 2001. Prior to joining SSA, Ms. Geier was General Counsel for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), a Federal-State economic development partnership from 1988 to 1992. Her experience at ARC was preceded by work as a litigator at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Division, as a Senior Trial Attorney and Assistant Director for Commercial Litigation, where she specialized in program fraud, including Medicare and Medicaid provider fraud. Before DOJ, Ms. Geier directed operations in seven western states and Micronesia as Regional Director for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) in Seattle, Washington and later served as Director of LSC’s first national research and demonstration office, funding projects to improve the quality of legal services for low income people.
Ms. Geier holds a B.A. degree from Fisk University, a M.A. degree from the University of Chicago and a J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University. She is admitted to the Bar in the States of Tennessee and Washington. Ms. Geier received the Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Award from President William Clinton and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.