Â鶹¹ú²ú

Originally published on August 24, 2020

The 2020 Tolchin Symposium takes on two civil rights issues—racial inequalities and the right to vote—in a program that also celebrates the 100^th anniversary of the women’s suffrage movement. Reckoning with Racial Disparities in Access to Vote: Centennial of Women’s Suffrage Celebration takes place Wednesday, August 26, at noon EDT, and features a discussion by a panel of experts and two keynote addresses by Virginia elected officials, both of whom are running for governor.

The virtual event is free and open to the public but .

George Mason Â鶹¹ú²ú President and Schar School Dean will host the event.

Associate Professor , director of the Schar School’s , will moderate the discussion. Panelists include Carrie N. Baker, professor and chair of the Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College;

Andrea Douglas, executive director of the Jefferson School’s African American Heritage Center; Emily Martin, vice president for Education Workplace Justice at the National Women's Law Center; and Beverly Guy-Sheftal, professor of Women’s Studies and English at Spelman College.

Keynote speakers include Virginia Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-2) and Virginia State Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-9). Both Foy and McClellan have announced their candidacy for governor.

The 2020 Tolchin Symposium is the fifth annual event named for , an influential political science professor who taught at the Schar School for 16 years until her retirement in 2014. She created the Washington Institute for Women in Politics in 1974. Tolchin died in 2016.