ASU Law launches Civil Rights, Migration and Workplace Law Initiative

The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University has launched the Civil Rights, Migration and Workplace Law Initiative, a new effort dedicated to advancing justice through education, scholarship and community engagement.

The initiative, led by Professor David Lopez, focuses on how law shapes access to economic and political opportunity and promotes strategies for meaningful change in Arizona, the Southwest and beyond.

Anchored at ASU Law’s downtown Phoenix campus, and connected to the university’s presence in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, the initiative serves as a hub for research, collaboration and student engagement in areas including civil rights, immigration law and policy, and labor and employment law. It will also explore emerging issues such as artificial intelligence, social media and social justice.

“This initiative reflects ASU Law’s deep commitment to justice, scholarship and inclusion,” Lopez said. “By connecting legal education with community engagement and public policy, we’re preparing a new generation of lawyers and leaders who understand that law is not just a set of rules — it’s a tool for transformation.”

Lopez is a nationally recognized civil rights leader and the longest-serving general counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He helped shape landmark litigation expanding protections against workplace discrimination and has served as co-dean of Rutgers Law School–Newark. He has also taught at Harvard, Yale, NYU and Georgetown. Lopez is a Phoenix native and proud graduate of Arizona State University Barrett, The Honors College, and co-founded the ASU Hispanic Celebration, which has grown into a signature event of achievement and community during the university’s graduation ceremonies.

Consistent with ASU’s charter, this initiative will advance research and community engagement of public value while providing networks that provide our students with pathways for societal impact, said Stacy Leeds, Willard H. Pedrick Dean and Regents Professor at ASU Law. “Professor Lopez’s leadership and vision along with our many faculty experts in these areas of law, will further strengthen ASU Law as a national leader in this space.”

ASU Law will host a launch event, “The Changing Landscape of Federal and State Gender Workplace Protections,” on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. in the W. P. Carey Foundation Armstrong Great Hall at ASU Law, 111 E. Taylor St., Phoenix. The event will feature Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, and ASU Law Dean Leeds.

The program includes a panel discussion moderated by Professor Michael Selmi, a fireside chat with Leeds and a reception with special guests. CLE credit will be available.

The event is sponsored by the Arizona Women Lawyers Association, the Arizona Black Bar, the Arizona Asian American Bar Association and the Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association, with support from ASU Law student organizations.

Event details:

What: The Changing Landscape of Federal and State Gender Workplace Protections

When: Wednesday, Nov. 12  at 6 p.m. 

Where: Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU, W. P. Carey Foundation Armstrong Great Hall, 111 E. Taylor St., Phoenix

Register here.

Written by Kourtney Kelley