2016-2017 | Natural History In the Lab

Justice Ginsburg to Speak at VMI Feb. 1

A portrait of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

LEXINGTON, Va., Jan. 26, 2017 – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will participate in a public on-stage interview as part of a visit to Washington and Lee University School of Law and Virginia Military Institute on Feb. 1.

The public event will be at VMI's Cameron Hall.   It is free, with seating available on a first come, first served basis.  No tickets are required.  The event begins at 11:15 a.m., and doors to the building will open at 10 a.m.

Update:

Large groups are asked to call 540-464-7361 to provide information about the number of people and vehicles they will bring. Those in attendance are asked to minimize the items they bring to facilitate security screening. Cameras and phones are acceptable, but attendees are asked not to bring backpacks or other large bags.

Parking will be available on city streets and on post, and with prior coordination bus parking will be available on Main Street adjacent to Foster Stadium.  No buses will be permitted to enter VMI's main post area. Follow instructions from VMI employees assisting with parking when arriving on post.

In the event that Cameron Hall reaches capacity, overflow seating will be available in Gillis Theatre, where the event will be viewed via a live video link.

The events at W&L are closed to the public and to the media.

When Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, she became only the second female justice, after Sandra Day O’Connor, in the history of the Supreme Court. Along with Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, she is now one of three women serving on the nation’s highest court.

Throughout the course of her professional life, the now 83-year-old Ginsburg has been an advocate for women’s rights and gender equality. In the 1970s, she co-founded the women’s rights project at the American Civil Liberties Union and later became the organization’s general counsel. Also during that decade, she became the first woman to earn tenure as a professor at her alma mater, Columbia Law School. At the time she entered academia, at Rutgers University in 1963, there were fewer than 20 female law professors in the United States.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a position she held until her appointment to the Supreme Court 13 years later.

In 1999, she won the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award for her contributions to gender equality and civil rights.

-VMI-

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