FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Gita Brown, 401-456-8465, gbrown@ric.edu
Laura Hart, 401-456-8977, lhart@ric.edu
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney Shirley Wilcher will present the Dialogue on Diversity Spring Lecture at Rhode Island College on Wednesday, March 18, 12:30-2 p.m., in Alger Hall 110.
Titled “Affirmative Action in the Age of Inclusion,” her lecture will focus on the history of affirmative action, its impact on the United States workforce, issues of compliance in higher education and implications for the future.
This event is co-sponsored by RIC’s Feinstein School of Education and Human Development and the Diversity Committee.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Wilcher has worked in civil rights law for more than 35 years, testifying before both House and Senate committees of the United States Congress and writing extensively on equal opportunity issues.
She is currently executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity, as well as president of Wilcher Global, LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in diversity management, affirmative action, contract compliance and government relations.
In 1978, while still a law student at Harvard, Wilcher began a career in civil rights litigation as clerk for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. After earning her law degree, she became staff attorney for the National Women's Law Center in D.C. She then moved to Capitol Hill as civil rights counsel for the House Committee on Education and Labor during the Reagan years. There, she was involved in the oversight and enforcement of affirmative action and equal opportunity laws.
When President Clinton was elected, Wilcher joined the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) with the Department of Labor as deputy assistant secretary. The OFCCP’s charge is to enforce Lyndon Johnson’s Executive Order 11240, requiring companies that work under federal contract to uphold the laws of affirmative action.
Upon the end of the Clinton administration, Wilcher served as executive director of Americans for a Fair Chance, which has since merged with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
Wilcher has also served as director of state relations and general counsel for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and adjunct associate professor of law at American University.
Wilcher is a founding member of the National (Political) Congress of Black Women and served as its first Recording Secretary. She is recipient of the Rosa Parks Award and Keeper of the Flame Award by the American Association for Affirmative Action and the NAACP, respectively.
For more information on the Dialogue on Diversity Spring Lecture, contact the Dialogue on Diversity co-chair Antoinette Gomes at (401) 456-8791.
Established in 1854, Rhode Island College serves approximately 9,000 graduate and undergraduate students through its five schools: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development, the School of Social Work, the School of Management and the School of Nursing.
As an institution of higher education, the College is committed to promoting an understanding of and appreciation for the increasingly diverse backgrounds and beliefs of those who comprise the college community, as well as the larger community of which Rhode Island College is a part.
For more information, visit www.ric.edu.
