CARLISLE, Pa. — Eight Penn State Dickinson Law scholars have received an invitation to participate in a White House and Department of Justice virtual meeting on Jan. 28. The offer was made on behalf of the White House and the Department of Justice in order to recognize and discuss Dickinson Law’s efforts to secure access to justice and housing stability in the months ahead. Attorney General of the United States Merrick Garland, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Adewale Adeyemo, and other top administration officials will be in attendance during the event.
Individuals invited to attend from Dickinson Law include Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway; Professor Gary S. Gildin; Professor Megan Riesmeyer; third-year law students Jessica DeLong, James Smith and Kendell Wilson; second-year law student Aranda Stathers; and first-year law student Rachel James.
In the email invitation from Gene Sperling, White House American Rescue Plan coordinator and senior adviser to the president, and Vanita Gupta, associate attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice, Dickinson Law faculty and students received thanks for their “laudable and swift response to the Attorney General’s Call to Action to the Legal Profession to address the housing and eviction crisis.” Sperling and Gupta noted that during the meeting “we will underscore the importance of your efforts and the imperative to secure access to justice and housing stability in the months ahead. We will also showcase some of the best practices among law schools whose deans, faculty, and students rose to meet the challenge in their communities during this seminal moment.”
Conway congratulated the faculty and students who received invitations, saying that “this is the direct result of your amazing work in contributing assistance to clients facing eviction as well as other challenges before and during the pandemic. As such, let me say congratulations and thank you for providing the service and care that our society members deserve. Your combined work led to Penn State Dickinson Law receiving the invitation to the White House and Department of Justice Law Dean Event. Thank you all for always stepping forward to serve. I look forward to attending the event on Jan. 28 to celebrate each of you.”
Conway shared that on Aug. 28, 2021, Dean William Treanor of Georgetown University Law Center reached out to her to ask if Penn State Dickinson Law would be among the first 10 law schools to sign a letter pledging a general commitment to provide support for people facing eviction. Knowing that the Community Law Clinic was already steeped in this work, Conway immediately signed on to the letter. Conway added that “the Community Law Clinic made this pledge real by continuing its work, and former Dean and Professor Gary Gildin participated in landlord/tenant mediation training with the goal of training Miller Center law students to also serve as mediators. On Jan. 19, Professor Megan Riesmeyer reported the concrete steps that the Community Law Clinic and the Miller Center took to answer Attorney General Merrick Garland’s call to action.”