ACLU President Deborah Archer headlines 43rd annual Expressions of King’s Legacy

RIT will welcome Deborah Archer, eighth president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), to campus on Wednesday, Jan. 29, for the 43rd annual Expressions of King’s Legacy event.

Programming will start with a performance by Rochester’s own Garth Fagan Dance. The event will begin at noon and end at 2 p.m. at RIT’s Gordon Field House. Registration is free and open to the public. All attendees are asked to register in order for proper planning and to receive up-to-date event information.

Archer was named president of the ACLU in 2021, making her the first person of color to lead the organization in its more than 100-year history. She also is a professor of clinical law at the New York University School of Law and faculty director of the school’s Community Equity Initiative. As a young child of Jamaican immigrants, Archer experienced racism and discrimination firsthand, leading her down a lifelong path to fight racism, classism, and anti-immigrant sentiment.

“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. continuously fought for legislation to promote civil rights, so having Dr. Archer on campus to speak on these issues is a great way to honor his legacy,” said Keith Jenkins, vice president and associate provost for the Division of Diversity and Inclusion. “Many of the things Dr. King fought for are things Dr. Archer and the ACLU are still advocating for today. I encourage all across our campus and community to take advantage in joining us for this event.”

Prior to her time at NYU, Archer worked as an attorney with the ACLU and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. She litigated in the areas of voting rights, employment discrimination, and school desegregation. Her list of honors from community organizations and legal institutions is vast, and she is toted as a leading expert in civil rights, civil liberties, and racial justice. Archer is a graduate of Yale Law School and Smith College.

Garth Fagan Dance is an internationally recognized contemporary American dance company founded in Rochester in the 1970’s. For decades, the school invites young people regardless of race, gender, or financial resources to fulfill their potential, while the company provides performances and activities that enrich the community.

The company’s namesake came to America from Jamaica in 1960 and was inspired by the raw talent and perseverance of students from inner-city Rochester, leading to the formation of Garth Fagan Dance. Fagan is perhaps best known as the Tony-award winning choreographer of Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway. In May 2024, he received an honorary doctorate from RIT.

Expressions of King’s Legacy is a decades-old celebration at RIT. Beginning in 1982, the Committee for Promoting Pluralism and the Black Awareness Coordinating Committee held the Conference on Racism, which in 2002 was renamed the Expressions of Diversity Conference. In 2010, an annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was combined into a week-long event called Expressions of King’s Legacy. The program moved under the Division of Diversity and Inclusion in 2012 and continues as the longest-standing diversity program at the university.

For more information on the event and to register, visit the Expressions of King’s Legacy website.