January 13, 2010

Cooley Law School’s Grand Rapids Campus Announces 2010 MLK Day Celebration 

Officials at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Grand Rapids campus today announced that the Rev. Dr. Walter M. Brame, president and CEO of the Grand Rapids Urban League, will be the keynote speaker at its Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration on Monday, Jan. 18.

The program, entitled The Dream Speaks, is open to students, faculty and the public and will be held at noon at Cooley Law School’s Grand Rapids campus (111 Commerce SW) in room 529. Brame will focus on the impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech as well as the impact or shift in the minority community and the country as a whole in recent history with the election of President Barack Obama.  Brame also will share his personal experiences as a community leader.

As initiated by Cooley President and Dean Don LeDuc, Cooley’s classes are suspended in observance of MLK Day, and students, faculty, and staff devote the day to study, reflection, and programs on the role of law and lawyers in protecting the rights of everyone and assuring equal access to justice.

In 2010, the Cooley campus-wide MLK Day theme, Continuing the Dream, will address how King's belief in equality and justice for all can be applied to the current legal and social challenges we face as a nation, said Goldie Adele, Cooley’s coordinator of student services and diversity programs.

Brame has been president at various Urban League affiliates for more than 30 years.  He has been a visiting professor in African American Studies at Grand Valley State University, an adjunct instructor for graduate studies in educational leadership at Western Michigan University and currently teaches sociology at Grand Rapids Community College. He is a member of the Academy of Fellows of the National Urban League and served as president of the Grand Rapids Rotary from 2006 to 2007. He currently serves as a mentor for the Grand Rapids Rotary at Ottawa Hills High School.

Brame is a graduate of North Carolina College at Durham, (currently North Carolina Central University), with a bachelor’s degree in political science and history.  He earned a master’s degree in educational sociology from Wayne State University in Detroit and a doctorate in educational leadership from Western Michigan University in 1989.  He has done post-doctoral work in special education at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee.

Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the nation.  Founded in 1972, the private, non-profit law school operates J.D. programs across Michigan in Lansing, Auburn Hills, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor.  Today, Cooley Law School has nearly 14,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide and also offers joint degree and master of laws programs.  Cooley offers enrollment three times a year; in January, May and September.   Additional information about Cooley can be found at cooley.edu.