Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Join us for a lecture with Deborah Archer, President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Margaret B. Hoppin Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Community Equity Initiative at New York University School of Law. The lecture will build on her recent book, Dividing Lines: How Transportation Infrastructure Reinforces Racial Inequality, and its relevance to designers and planners.
After the lecture, Erica Blonde, Stephen Gray, Alex Krieger, and Etty Padmodipoetro will join Archer onstage for a panel discussion.
Speaker:
Deborah Archer is the President of the ACLU, the first person of color to serve in that role in the organization’s history, and a nationally recognized expert on civil liberties, civil rights, and racial justice. She is also the Margaret B. Hoppin Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Community Equity Initiative at New York University School of Law. Archer is an award-winning teacher and legal scholar whose articles have appeared in leading law reviews and national publications, and she has offered commentary for national and international media. Prior to full-time teaching, Archer worked as an attorney with the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., where she litigated in the areas of voting rights, employment discrimination, educational equity, and school desegregation. She previously served as Chair of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, the nation’s oldest and largest police oversight agency. She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute, and been awarded the Smith College Medal, the National NAACP William Robert Ming Advocacy Award, the Arabella Mansfield Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Seattle University. She is the author of the national best-selling book Dividing Lines: How Transportation Infrastructure Reinforces Racial Inequality.
00:00 Introduction by Carole Voulgaris
03:35 Lecture by Deborah Archer
37:42 Panel Introduction by Carole Voulgaris
40:55 Panel Discussion
01:21:21 Q+A
Join us for a lecture with Deborah Archer, President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Margaret B. Hoppin Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Community Equity Initiative at New York University School of Law. The lecture will build on her recent book, Dividing Lines: How Transportation Infrastructure Reinforces Racial Inequality, and its relevance to designers and planners.
After the lecture, Erica Blonde, Stephen Gray, Alex Krieger, and Etty Padmodipoetro will join Archer onstage for a panel discussion.
Speaker:
Deborah Archer is the President of the ACLU, the first person of color to serve in that role in the organization’s history, and a nationally recognized expert on civil liberties, civil rights, and racial justice. She is also the Margaret B. Hoppin Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Community Equity Initiative at New York University School of Law. Archer is an award-winning teacher and legal scholar whose articles have appeared in leading law reviews and national publications, and she has offered commentary for national and international media. Prior to full-time teaching, Archer worked as an attorney with the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., where she litigated in the areas of voting rights, employment discrimination, educational equity, and school desegregation. She previously served as Chair of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, the nation’s oldest and largest police oversight agency. She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute, and been awarded the Smith College Medal, the National NAACP William Robert Ming Advocacy Award, the Arabella Mansfield Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Seattle University. She is the author of the national best-selling book Dividing Lines: How Transportation Infrastructure Reinforces Racial Inequality.
00:00 Introduction by Carole Voulgaris
03:35 Lecture by Deborah Archer
37:42 Panel Introduction by Carole Voulgaris
40:55 Panel Discussion
01:21:21 Q+A
