Kansas State University

MANHATTAN -- An expert on the Voting Rights Act will speak as part of Kansas State University's fall 2013 Dorothy L. Thompson Civil Rights Lecture Series.

Reginald "Reggie" Robinson, Washburn University professor of law, will present "Supreme Court Reconsiders Voting Rights Act: Broken Law or Broken Promise?" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, in the K-State Alumni Center banquet room.

The Dorothy L. Thompson Lecture Series was established in recognition of Thompson's contributions to the field of human rights on campuses throughout Kansas and the nation. Thompson was associated with Kansas State University from 1971 until her death in 1992. She served as the university's director of affirmative action and as associate university attorney.

Robinson's presentation will focus on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. The court ruled a key provision of the U.S. Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. The act prohibits states and local governments from imposing voting qualifications or prerequisites to voting. Robinson has addressed the ruling in his classes and writes about the subject for several publications.

Before joining the faculty at Washburn University, Robinson served as the president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents from October 2002 to June 2010. He also served four years as chief of staff to the university of Kansas chancellor and visiting associate professor in the University of Kansas School of Law. He was a White House fellow with the U.S. Department of Justice in 1993, serving as special assistant to attorney general Janet Reno, deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Justice Programs, and deputy associate attorney general of the United States. He received his bachelor's degree in 1980 and his Juris Doctor in 1987, both from the University of Kansas. Currently, he is the director of the Washburn University School of Law Center for Law and Government.