Activist Tiffany Loftin, director of the NAACP Youth and College Division, will talk about advocacy and empowerment for communities of color when she visits The University of Toledo for Black History Month.

She will speak 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6 in Doermann Theatre.

Tiffany Loftin

For the NAACP, Loftin serves more than 700 youth councils and high school and college chapters fighting for civil rights. She is known for her passion for membership-based organizing at the local, state and national levels.

She believes her mission is to develop students into leaders who can stand up for what they believe in.

“My first value in this work is to make sure that our young people are treated as respectable young adults,” Loftin said during an interview with The Crisis Magazine. “Our young folks are more woke, taking more risks, and having more important conversations at a younger age that a lot of us didn’t have to have when we were young.”

“We are excited Tiffany Loftin is coming to campus to give our keynote address during Black History Month,” David Young, UToledo director of Toledo Excel and Special Projects, said. “She is a dynamic leader, and we expect her to fire up our students to get involved and make a difference in the fight for equality.”

Prior to joining the NAACP last February, Loftin was senior program specialist in community advocacy and partnership engagement at the Center for Social Justice with the National Education Association. Her responsibilities included aligning the association’s priorities within the African-American and progressive communities and creating opportunities to address racial and economic gaps that affect educators, students and communities.

She also worked for the AFL-CIO Labor Commission on Racial and Economic Justice and served as racial justice program coordinator for the Civil, Human and Women’s Rights Department, where she focused on creating dialogue and action addressing the racial and economic disparities impacting workers.

When Loftin was 24 in 2013, President Barack Obama appointed her to serve on the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans in Higher Education.

In 2011, Loftin became the first person in her family to graduate from college when she received dual degrees in American studies and political science from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She became president of the U.S. Student Association, the largest student-led organization in the nation that represents student governments and students, and coordinated campaigns addressing student loan debt and expanding financial aid for low-income and students of color.

In addition to Loftin’s free, public talk, the University will pay tribute to this year’s theme, “Celebrating Resilience,” with several events during Black History Month. Listed by date, events will include:

• Tuesday, Feb. 4 — Black History Month Basketball Game, 7 p.m., Savage Arena. Catch the Toledo men’s basketball team playing Northern Illinois; during the game, student organizations, alumni and students who exemplify excellence will be recognized.
• Saturday, Feb. 8 — “Reclaiming Our Narrative: Ending the Epidemic,” 4 p.m., Collier Building Room 1000 on Health Science Campus. International HIV activist Hydeia Broadbent will speak in honor of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The free, public program is presented by the Ann Wayson Locher Memorial Fund for HIV Care and the UToledo Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
• Tuesday, Feb. 18 — Black Career Night, 6 p.m., Thompson Student Union Ingman Room. This event sponsored by the Black Student Union will bring together local community members who will talk about their businesses and organizations and allow students to network and learn about career opportunities.
• Friday, Feb. 21 — Black Student Union Fashion Show, 7 p.m., Thompson Student Union Auditorium. Ticket prices to be announced. Proceeds from the 51^st annual event go to a student scholarship that aids in the retention of black students.
• Tuesday, Feb. 25 — “Honing in on Triple Negative Breast Cancer: Improving Health Outcomes for Women of African Ancestry Using Precision Medicine,” 5:30 p.m., Health Education Building Room 105 on Health Science Campus. The free, public forum is hosted by the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women.
• Saturday, Feb. 29 — Ujima Day of Service, 10:30 a.m. Volunteers will meet in Thompson Student Union Room 2500 for breakfast and then volunteer at the MLK Kitchen for the Poor, the Ronald McDonald House and the Beach House Family Shelter. Ujima is one of the seven principles of Kwanza and stands for collective work and responsibility. “Ujima means to build and maintain our community together and to make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together,” Young said.

In the midst of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and heading into the 2020 presidential election, a constitutional law scholar at The University of Toledo released a new book providing the first natural law justification for an originalist interpretation of the American Constitution.

In “Originalism’s Promise: A Natural Law Account of the American Constitution” published by Cambridge University Press, Lee Strang, John W. Stoepler Professor of Law and Values in the UToledo College of Law, provides a summary of the history of constitutional interpretation in the U.S. and writes a thorough and detailed description of how originalism operates in practice.

“This book provides an argument for how Americans should interpret the Constitution and offers a way out of the bitterness exemplified by the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh,” Strang said. “Faithfulness to the Constitution’s original meaning is supported by sound reasons, reasons that help all Americans achieve their own human flourishing.”

The College of Law is celebrating the book’s release with a book launch that features a lecture by Strang at noon Wednesday, Jan. 29 in the Law Center McQuade Auditorium. The free, public event will be followed by a book signing.

Lee Strang

Strang, who was a visiting fellow at the James Madison Program at Princeton University during the 2018-19 academic year, has published dozens of articles in the fields of constitutional law and interpretation; property law; and religion and the First Amendment.

“In this presidential election year, my goal is to inform Americans as they debate the Supreme Court’s future,” Strang said. “‘Originalism’s Promise’ is the product of more than 20 years of thinking through two common American commitments. First, Americans strive to be faithful to our Constitution. Second, and following the Declaration of Independence, many Americans are committed to some version of natural law. Together, these commitments suggest that Americans of all stripes should utilize originalism to interpret our common Constitution.”

The UToledo College of Law awarded Strang the Faculty Scholarship Award in 2019 for “Originalism’s Promise.” He was the recipient of The University of Toledo Outstanding Faculty Research and Scholarship Award in 2017.

In 2015 Strang served as a visiting scholar at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution.

Strang said the inspiration for writing the book stems from his experiences as a younger person attending political events with his parents, his education as a law student, and how vigorously Americans disagree about how to interpret the Constitution.

“I listened as politicians and activists argued that the Constitution supported their positions, so this book grew out of an attempt to identify how Americans can ascertain which claims are correct,” Strang said. “Also, as a student taking constitutional law classes, we did not study the Constitution’s text, structure and history. I remember we nearly always read Supreme Court opinions, which themselves rarely paid attention to the Constitution’s text. This book both criticizes and supports aspects of that educational approach.”

The University of Toledo College of Engineering is hosting a workshop to showcase a national program designed to use the nation’s commercial nuclear reactors to produce hydrogen and help the transportation, chemical and steel industries close the carbon cycle.

The event, focused on the sustainable energy program, starts at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14 in the Nitschke Hall SSOE Seminar Room, bringing together representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy, scientists from U.S. national laboratories, UToledo faculty, representatives from Davis-Besse nuclear power plant, and industry leaders.

As part of the national project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho National Laboratory is working with the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant on a pilot program to install an electrolysis system to produce hydrogen.

“The University of Toledo is proud to host a workshop to explore opportunities in repurposing light water nuclear reactors for hydrogen production through a hybrid systems design,” said Dr. Mike Toole, dean of the UToledo College of Engineering.

“The project is a win for regional industries and clean energy,” Dr. Connie Schall, UToledo associate vice president for research, said. “Nuclear electricity is a low carbon emission power source. The nuclear energy hub model opens many opportunities for regional industries, not only for green hydrogen but also for other electrochemically driven processes.”

This workshop will explore the current state-of-the-art opportunities for industry, government and academic collaboration, identify current research-and-development gaps, and provide an overview of the U.S. Department of Energy programs that are leading the effort to build a hydrogen economy and innovative power grid solutions.

The agenda and registration information can be found at the workshop website.

The workshop comes three months after the U.S. Department of Energy selected UToledo to host National Lab Day, which connected students and researchers with preeminent scientists from world-class facilities across the country to explore opportunities for partnerships.

Dr. Yusef Salaam, whose story is documented in the 2019 series “When They See Us,” will give the keynote address at The University of Toledo’s 36^th annual Conference for Aspiring Minority Youth Saturday, Jan. 11.

Sponsored by Toledo Excel and the UToledo Joint Committee, the conference for seventh- and eighth-graders, high school students and parents will start at 8:30 a.m. in the Thompson Student Union Auditorium.

“Social Justice: A Community Enterprise” is the theme of this year’s event.

“Dr. Salaam understands better than most that we have systems in this country that do not work equally for all of its citizens,” David Young, director of Toledo Excel and Special Projects, said. “However, he has dedicated himself to changing those systems as one of the leading advocates in the nation for criminal justice reform and change.”

Dr. Yusef Salaam

Salaam was one of five teenagers of color, ages 14 to 16, wrongfully convicted of the 1989 beating and rape of a female jogger in Central Park. More than a decade later, a murderer and rapist serving a life sentence confessed to the brutal crime, and DNA evidence cleared the five, who were exonerated.

In 2012, filmmaker Ken Burns made a documentary detailing the travesty; “The Central Park Five” chronicled the case from the perspective of the teens whose lives were changed by the miscarriage of justice.

Two years later, the quintet agreed to an approximate $40 million settlement from New York City to resolve the civil rights lawsuit over their arrests and imprisonment for the attack that made headlines around the globe.

Their story continues to educate and open eyes. “When They See Us,” a four-part miniseries was released this year by Netflix and has received numerous awards.

“Since the day we were wrongfully arrested, others controlled the story about us without ever seeing us,” Salaam, an Innocence Project board member, said at the nonprofit legal organization’s 2019 gala.

Since his release more than two decades ago, Salaam has become an activist and inspirational speaker who addresses injustice and the importance of education, and facilitates discussions on race and class, prison reform, and capital punishment.

“This conference will educate students and parents about their basic rights and also advocate all attendees to be change agents where needed,” Young said. “We hope this will encourage a community and collective effort where social justice is needed.”

Following the keynote address, Salaam will participate in a panel discussion on social justice and criminal justice reform. He will be joined by RaShya Ghee, UToledo graduate, adjunct professor at the UToledo College of Law, and staff attorney at Advocating for Opportunity; Albert Earl, cultural educator and prevention education specialist; and UToledo Police Chief and Director of Public Safety Jeff Newton. Rhonda Sewell, manager of external and governmental affairs at Toledo Lucas County Public Library, will moderate the session.

Toledo Excel was established in 1988 to help underrepresented students, including African, Asian, Hispanic and Native Americans, for success in college. Through summer institutes, academic retreat weekends, campus visits and guidance through the admission process, students increase their self-esteem, cultural awareness and civic involvement.

Toledo Excel is part of the Office of Multicultural Student Success, which is in the Division of Student Affairs. The UToledo Joint Committee includes representatives from the University, Toledo Public and Parochial schools, and civic and community leaders from the city of Toledo. The mission of the committee is to bring together people in the community interested in the education of underrepresented youth. The UToledo Joint Committee also serves as an advisory board and support system for Toledo Excel.

Advance registration for the free, public conference is required; go to the eventbrite website.