Schools plan 2-day symposium

The Charleston School of Law and The Riley Institute at Furman University are partnering to sponsor a two-day symposium next month that will focus on state constitutional reform in the 21st century.

The "State Constitutional Reform in the New South" symposium will explore such issues as the bans on illegal immigrant admission to state colleges and universities, the role of South Carolina's governor and whether the state's constitution should guarantee more than a "minimally adequate" education.

The symposium is the inaugural offering in the annual "Law and Society" series, which is presented by the Charleston Law Review of the Charleston School of Law and the Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership at Furman.

The program begins at 5 p.m. Jan. 15 in the Charleston Music Hall with a keynote address by Ronald Sullivan Jr. and Charles McKinney.

The two are founding fellows of the Jamestown Project, a Cambridge, Mass., think tank.

Events continue at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 16 at the Charleston Museum with a series of talks and panel discussions by scholars, judges, former governors, legislators, lawyers and public advocates.

The cost is $50 for practicing attorneys and $25 for academics, government employees and nonprofits. Students are offered free admission.

Register online at www.lawandsocietyseries.eventbrite.com. For more information, call the Charleston School of Law at 377-2440.

A complete schedule for the symposium is available by clicking here.