Twenty-First Century Policy Makers
Racial, Ethnic, and Religious Reconciliation
Following in the footsteps of social change agents who have committed their lives to reconciling conflicts within the global community, students from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service hosted the Second Annual 21st Century Policy Makers Conference on the topic of "Racial, Ethnic, and Religious Reconciliation." All conference events were held on the campus of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, from March 8-10, 2007.
A partnership with AT&T, the William J. Clinton Foundation, and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, this student-led conference featured renowned speakers on civil rights and social justice, academic research presentations, a facilitated dialogue, and visits to historical sites.
Photo Credit: Ariston Jacks
Participants in the Second Annual 21st Century Policy Makers Conference outside the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas
The Second Annual 21st Century Policy Makers Conference was the first major event in a year filled with historic events that focus on racial reconciliation. In the coming months, Arkansas will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School and the Clinton Presidential Center will have the Emancipation Proclamation on display.
Conference Speakers
- Governor Mike Beebe, Arkansas
- President Bill Clinton (via video)
- Dalton Conley, New York University professor of Social Sciences
- Raymond Cross, University of Montana law professor
- Louis DeSipio, University of California Irvine chair of Chicano/Latino Studies
- Representative Joyce Elliott, Arkansas House of Representatives
- Delegate A. Donald McEachin, Virginia House of Delegates /author of reconciliation legislation
- Rose Ochi, commissioner of the Los Angeles Police Commission
- Senator David Pryor, Founding Dean of the Clinton School
- Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, daughter of President Lyndon Johnson
- Gillian Sorensen, senior advisor to the United Nations Foundation
- Mayor Mark Stodola, Little Rock
- Minnijean Brown Trickey, civil rights advocate and member of the Little Rock Nine
Participating Universities
- University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service
- Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin
- Bush School of Government and Public Service at the Texas A&M University
- Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan
- Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota
- The H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon
- Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Southern University (Baton Rouge)
- University of Notre Dame
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
- Arkansas State University
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock
- University of Central Arkansas
- Ouachita Baptist University
- University of Arkansas Pine Bluff
- Philander Smith College
- Rhodes College (Memphis, TN)
- University of Kansas