Samuel Gross, professor of law at the University of Michigan and editor of the National Registry of Exonerations, will discuss wrongful convictions and exonerations in the United States Tuesday, Sept. 16.

The free, public lecture, “Wrongful Convictions in the U.S.: Lessons From the National Registry of Exonerations,” will start at noon in The University of Toledo Law Center McQuade Law Auditorium. It is part of the College of Law’s Distinguished Speaker Series.

In the lecture, Gross will speak to surprising findings that have been discovered through examining wrongful convictions, including the effect of eyewitness misidentification on false convictions, and the roles of DNA, prosecutors and police in exonerations.

Gross is the editor of the National Registry of Exonerations, exonerationregistry.org, a joint project of the University of Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern University School of Law.

Launched in 2012, the registry is the most comprehensive collection of exonerations in the United States ever assembled and maintains a detailed online database of all known exonerations in the country since 1989.

“Samuel Gross is one of the nation’s leading experts on wrongful convictions and exonerations. We are delighted to have him speak on how to address these most fundamental failures of our justice system,” said Daniel J. Steinbock, dean of the UT College of Law.

Gross teaches courses on evidence, criminal procedure and wrongful criminal convictions at the University of Michigan Law School. His published work includes articles and books on evidence law, the death penalty, false convictions, racial profiling, eyewitness identification and the relationship between pretrial bargaining and trial verdicts.

As a cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. in New York and the National Jury Project in California, Gross litigated a series of test cases on jury selection in capital trials and worked on the issue of racial discrimination and the death penalty.

The University of Toledo has enrolled and retained increasing numbers of high-performing students and increased its direct-from-high-school, international and out-of-state populations compared to fall of last year, officials announced Tuesday.

Reporting for the official 15th day census, UT announced that the total number of new students has increased from 6,333 in 2013 to 6,632 this fall. Its direct-from-high-school population increased from 3,137 to 3,184 students. The number of Honors Award recipients — the academic scholarship provided to the most well-prepared students entering UT from high school — increased from 1,166 in 2013 to 1,265 this fall. The number of students participating in the Jesup Scott Honors College also increased from 954 to 1,296.

“The fact that almost 40 percent of our freshman class are very strong academically and that many chose to enroll in our Honors College speaks volumes about the type of students we are attracting and the quality of the academic experience they are receiving,” said Dr. Cam Cruickshank, vice president for enrollment management and online education.

UT’s total degree-seeking international population has reached a five-year high at 1,617. Out-of-state student numbers are on the rise too, as more than 1,016 new students come from outside Ohio, including 794 from Michigan.

Overall, UT enrolled 20,625 students. At this time last year, UT enrolled 20,782.

“The strategy to which UT committed several years ago is paying dividends,” Cruickshank said. “The decrease in enrollment we experienced from raising academic standards is now being replaced by increasing numbers of well-prepared students.”

Cruickshank said in addition to recruiting more academically prepared students, UT is returning increasing numbers of students to campus for their second year. UT’s retention rate for first-time, full-time freshmen of 70 percent is the highest it’s been in more than a decade.

The state of Ohio has shifted its state subsidy model, funding colleges and universities for graduation rates and academic success in the classroom instead of overall headcount.

“We knew when we raised standards we’d see a temporary dip. The academic preparedness of the students we are seeing enroll this semester demonstrates the successful efforts of the entire campus community to ensure students have the tools and resources they need to reach their educational goals and excel in the classroom,” he said.

“I want to thank all of our faculty, advisers, success coaches, tutors, and other staff for dramatically slowing and nearly reversing the declining enrollment trends at UT,” said Interim President Nagi Naganathan.

“With a renewed commitment and ownership from all of us, we are bound to deliver higher levels of student success at UT. This, in turn, will also result in continued healthy enrollment growth in future terms.”

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 and 13 ABC (Sept. 10, 2014)
The Blade (Sept. 10, 2014)

The Diamante Awards, hosted by The University of Toledo, will be Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. at Premier Banquet Hall, 4480 Heatherdowns Blvd. This year’s event celebrates 25 years of honoring Latino leadership and achievements in northwest Ohio. The awards take place during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.

The Diamante Awards recognize individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievement and service to the Latino and greater Toledo community. The event, a collaboration between Bowling Green State University, Herzing University, Lourdes University, Owens Community College and The University of Toledo, also serves to raise scholarship funds for Latino youth seeking advanced degrees.

This year’s winners are:
– Latino/Latina Youth Leadership: Stephanie Angel, whose research on stage-four brain tumors won first place in the cellular and molecular biology division and first place among undergraduate competitors at the Sigma Xi Research Symposium.
– Latino/Latina Adult Leadership: Mary Torres, who assists undocumented citizens with the naturalization process by helping them study and apply for the naturalization test.
– Latino/Latina Adult Professional: Dr. Gregory Guzman, former campus president of Herzing University in Toledo, the first Latino in northwest Ohio to hold such a position, and current executive director of Central City Ministry for the Catholic Diocese of Toledo.
– Corporation/Community Agency: Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE) and Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO), which provide high quality, civil legal assistance to low-income people in northwest Ohio and have maintained a long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion.
– Friend of the Latino Community: Dr. Richard Paat, who has been providing free health care to the Latino communities of northwest Ohio, Guatemala and Honduras for more than 15 years.

On Sept. 26, keynote speaker Juana Bordas will address topics from her award-winning book, The Power of Latino Leadership, during the awards presentation in the evening. Bordas will also visit the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, addressing “Leadership in a Multicultural Age” during the day.

Visit DiamanteToledo.org for more information and to register for the event.

To schedule an interview with the award winners, contact Alexis DeAnda Martinez at 419.372.2678 or adeanda@bgsu.edu. For any other questions regarding the awards, contact Margarita De Leon at 419.340.9410 or bravomagazine@sbcglobal.net.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Sept. 26, 2014)

The 4th annual Emergency Medicine Wall of Honor Induction Ceremony at The University of Toledo Health Science Campus will be honoring three inductees on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

A reception will take place at the Radisson at UTMC at 11:30 a.m.

A plaque for each honoree will be added to the wall, located in the Emergency Department of UTMC, near the ambulance entrance.

The Emergency Medicine Wall of Honor, made possible through funding from The Blade, was established in 2011 to recognize individual achievement and self-sacrifice in the EMS and Emergency Medicine community. Nominations are submitted by community stakeholders and reviewed by a multi-disciplinary selection committee.

This year’s honorees include:
– Peter Jaegly, EMT – Jaegly served 20 years in multiple capacities for Toledo Fire and Rescue. He began EMT training in 1993, later being promoted to Lieutenant, Captain and finishing his career as Battalion Chief.
– Virginia Reidy, R.N. – Reidy dedicated more than 30 years of her life to emergency medicine and served as an EMS and nursing instructor for Providence Hospital’s Paramedic Program and UT’s EMS Program. She educated thousands of nursing students, EMS providers and medical professionals throughout northwest Ohio.
– Dr. Joseph R. Stevens – Stevens was a staff physician in the 1960s at Mercy Hospital of Toledo and recognized care in the emergency room could be improved. His proposal of staffing the ER with attending physicians revolutionized ER procedures in northwest Ohio.

For more information, contact Tammy Brittain at 419.383.6383 or tammy.brittain@utoledo.edu.

The 11th annual International Human Trafficking, Prostitution and Sex Work Conference will be Thursday, Sept. 18 and Friday, Sept. 19.

Hosted by The University of Toledo, Lucas County Human Trafficking Coalition and the National Research Consortium on Commercial Sexual Exploitation, the conference brings together researchers, practitioners and others to educate attendees on human trafficking and lay the groundwork for future collaborative research, advocacy and program development.

Dr. Joel Filmore will deliver the keynote address at the conference, chronicling his 11-year journey as a victim of homelessness, drug-addiction and prostitution in Chicago to recently earning his doctorate in counselor education and supervision from Northern Illinois University.

The Freedom Drivers Project, a mobile exhibit inside a semi trailer, also will be present at this year’s conference. The project, presented by Truckers Against Trafficking, is designed to educate members of the trucking industry and the general public about the realities of domestic sex trafficking and how the trucking industry is combating it.

Other presenters during the two-day conference will cover topics including the recent Boko-Haram abduction of the Nigerian Chibok School girls; heightened sex trafficking incidents in relation to the location of the Super Bowl; and who is paying for sex in the U.S.

For more information, visit traffickingconference.com or email traffickingconference@gmail.com.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (Sept. 15, 2014)
The Independent Collegian (Sept. 17, 2014)
13 ABC and FOX Toledo (Sept. 22, 2014)
The Blade (Sept. 25, 2014)
The Blade (Sept. 28, 2014)
13 ABC (Sept. 29, 2014)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETINGS

PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE MEETING

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Driscoll Alumni Center Schmakel Room
7:30 a.m.
Upon convening the meeting, the Committee will enter Executive Session to discuss the employment of a public employee with Executive Search Firm Witt/Kiefer.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES’ MEETINGS

Monday, September 15, 2014

Radisson Hotel, Mahogany Ballroom, Salon A
10:30 a.m. Clinical Affairs Committee Meeting
1:00 p.m. Board of Trustees Meeting
A luncheon will be held for the Trustees between meetings.

Any questions may be directed to the University Communications Office by calling (419) 530-7832 or via email at jonathan.strunk@utoledo.edu.

Joan A. Stasa
Secretary, Board of Trustees

With the start of fall semester, students can join not only their academic classes, but also those hosted by the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women.

Located in Tucker Hall Room 0168, students and community members can sign up for computer classes, an entrepreneurship course, and self-defense (for women only), offered free or at minimal cost.

Adventure Fridays are back as well, featuring a group exercise experience at the Student Recreation Center Oct. 3, a home improvement workshop hosted by The Andersons Oct. 24, and a daylong trip to Dearborn, Mich., to visit the Arab American National Museum Nov. 14. Transportation is provided.

To learn more about these programs and others, stop by the Eberly Center open house at Tucker Hall Thursday, Sept. 4, from 5 to 7 p.m.

There’ll be ice cream and music by WXUT, and guests can visit renovated spaces, including the conference room and Kate’s Closet, a resource offering professional clothing for women. Kate’s Closet is open for appointments for female UT students.

In addition, the Women & Philanthropy Computer Lab will be revealed. The lab was made possible by a $21,400 grant awarded this summer by Women & Philanthropy at The University of Toledo.

“We appreciate all the donations and are glad to have the expansion with the new equipment to offer our students and Eberly Center participants,” said Dr. Shanda Gore, chief diversity officer and associate vice president for equity, diversity and community engagement. “The efforts of the diversity staff and the work from UT facilities over this past summer were outstanding and made this all possible.”

In addition, guests may browse the displays created by local Latina artists featured in the main hallway of the Eberly Center.

Class registrations for fall are open, and the schedules are available online at utoledo.edu/centers/eberly; hard copies also are available at the Eberly Center.

To learn more about classes or to schedule an appointment for Kate’s Closet, call 419.530.8570, or follow the Eberly Center on Twitter and on Facebook.

A new three-year contract between The University of Toledo and the Communication Workers of America Local 4319 will be celebrated Thursday, Sept. 4 with a signing ceremony at 1 p.m. in Libbey Hall on the UT Main Campus.

The contract, which runs from Jan. 1, 2014 through the end of 2016, has been approved by the UT Board of Trustees and CWA members.

CWA employees receive a 2.5 percent wage increase in the first year of the contract, which was effective July 14, and a 1 percent wage increase in the second year, which begins Jan. 1, 2015. The contract calls for a reopening of wage negotiations in year three and also includes a lump sum retroactive wage component.

UT has 530 employees represented by the CWA who provide clerical, maintenance and custodial services, primarily on UT’s Main Campus.

Media Coverage
13 ABC and FOX Toledo (Sept. 4, 2014)
The Independent Collegian (Sept. 17, 2014)

The University of Toledo Military Service Center will host the grand opening of the Veteran’s Lounge at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 4.

The lounge, located in Rocket Hall Room 1529, is the former site of the Military Service Center, a one-stop shop for students utilizing military educational benefits now located in Room 1350. Access to the lounge also is extended to dependents and spouses who are using Department of Veterans Affairs education benefits.

“The Veteran’s Lounge is an extension of the University’s commitment to student veterans and those currently serving. Our setup is similar to a USO lounge available at airports throughout the country,” said Navy Reserve Lt. Haraz N. Ghanbari, UT military liaison. “We wanted to create an atmosphere that would allow them to study, relax or enjoy some camaraderie. Access to the lounge is granted with coding to the student ID card.”

The new Veteran’s Lounge was made possible through donations from Whirlpool-Clyde Operations and the Ohio Army National Guard.

Donations include refrigerator/freezer, microwave, one-cup coffee maker, toaster, couches, and a flat-screen TV with cable and Xbox game system, as well as two computer stations and a study table. The computer stations are capable of reading common access cards used by active-duty, National Guard and reserve members.

An open house and small lunch are scheduled following the opening ceremony.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 and 13 ABC (Sept. 4, 2014)
WTOL 11 (Sept. 4, 2014)
13 ABC (Sept. 4, 2014)
NBC 24 (Sept. 4, 2014)
FOX Toledo (Sept. 4, 2014)