University of Pittsburgh School of Law Professor William M. Carter, Jr. was recently invited by the White House Counsel’s Office to participate in an exclusive roundtable discussion at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C. This invitation-only gathering convened a small group of prominent academics, practitioners, and leaders from non-profit and public interest organizations to provide insights on the future of racial equity measures in light of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings, including in the Harvard and UNC affirmative action cases. Other participants included former United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch, professors from elite law schools such as Yale, Harvard, and NYU, and the Executive Director of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund. Professor Carter contributed to the conversation with insights drawn from his scholarship, including his articles on affirmative action (Affirmative Action as Government Speech), First Amendment issues (The Second Founding and the First Amendment), and racial justice under the post-Civil War Amendments (Race, Rights, and the Thirteenth Amendment; The Anti-Klan Act in the Twenty-First Century).
This prestigious opportunity allowed Professor Carter to share his expertise in shaping the legal strategies the Executive Branch can still pursue to support equity and inclusion.