Center director named

Emory Law Dean Mary Anne Bobinski has named Professor Darren Lenard Hutchinson to lead the Emory University School of Law Center for Civil Rights and Social Justice. The new center will enhance the law school’s already rich focus on issues of civil rights, human rights, and social justice.

In a March interview with Rose Scott on WABE’s “Closer Look,” Hutchinson said many law schools do social justice work, oft times focused solely on producing and presenting research. “Our center will have that, but there must be a component that involves clinical education,” maybe by placing students in institutions that are social-justice related like the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center. “I also believe there should be a community component, where residents of the community and stakeholders in the community get to provide input on the type of work that the center does, so that makes it a unique center, because it includes students in the mission and it includes community leaders in the mission, as well. I’m very happy the dean agrees with that mission.”

The center was established in September, thanks to a transformative gift to Emory University from the Southern Company Foundation. Hutchinson joined the Emory Law faculty during the summer of 2021 as the inaugural John Lewis Chair for Civil Rights and Social Justice.

The philanthropically funded John Lewis Chair for Civil Rights and Social Justice is intended to serve as a lasting tribute to the legacy of “good trouble” advocated by the late congressman from Georgia’s Fifth District and establish Emory Law as a leader in teaching, research, and community engagement related to civil rights and social justice.