The 28th Annual Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Lecture (2021)

Karl Racine, Attorney General for the District of Columbia

About the Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Lecture

The annual Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Lecture series serves as a dedicated forum at UDC Law in which leading members of the bench or bar speak directly to the people of the District and the law school community on issues of vital importance to the practice of law in the public interest.

Established in 1993 in honor of the late civil liberties attorney and founding member of the law school Board of Governors Joe Rauh, some of the nation’s most respected civil rights and public interest figures – including then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayor and many others – have delivered the Rauh Lecture.

The Rauh Lecture, which is open to the public and free of charge, includes a catered reception at the conclusion of the event courtesy of the D.C. School of Law Foundation.

About Joe Rauh

Joe Rauh envisioned a law school that would function as a training ground for public interest lawyers: a school where law students could learn basic skills and represent the underrepresented at the same time, a school that made dedication to public service a criterion for admission and commitment to public service a life-long responsibility. The University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law is Joe Rauh’s dream come true. A founding member of the Law School’s Board of Governors, Rauh remained one of its staunchest supporters until his last hours with us.

Past Rauh Lecturers

2010	Eric Holder
2009	Sen. Patrick Leahy
2008	Vernon Jordan
2007	Nina Totenberg interviewed by Wade Henderson
2006	Theodore M. Shaw
2005	Congressman Barney Frank
2004	Congressman John Lewis
2003	Marian Wright Edelman
2002	Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ralph Neas and Wade Henderson on “Civil Rights in the 21st Century”
2001	Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
2000	Charles Ruff
1999	The Sleep Room (an award-winning film about Joe Rauh’s last case)
1998	Jack Greenberg
1997	Elaine Jones
1996	Father Robert Drinan
1995	Rick Seymour
1994	Judith Lichtman & Roger Wilkins
1993	William Taylor

• Karl Racine delivers 28th Annual Rauh Lecture
  Attorney General for the District of Columbia Karl A. Racine delivered the 2021 Joseph L. Rauh Jr. Lecture in March, in which he focused on the office’s efforts in affordable housing, worker rights, juvenile justice and combating hate. Following his remarks, Racine took questions from the virtual audience of more than 100 attendees. Dean Renée Hutchins introduced the […]
• Debo Adegbile named Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Chair of Civil Rights
  The UDC David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC Law) is excited to announce that Debo Adegbile will serve as the 2019-2020 Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Chair of Civil Rights. Adegbile is a member of the Government and Regulatory Litigation group at WilmerHale. He was chosen as the newest Rauh Chair for his wealth of […]
• Richard L. Trumka talks history, future of unions and labor at 27th Annual Rauh Lecture
  On Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka delivered the 27th Annual Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Lecture, linking the history and future of labor rights and reminding the audience of Joseph L. Rauh’s role in paving the way for union democracy. Trumka’s long-time mentor and friend Joseph “Chip” Yablonski introduced Trumka to the […]
• “Despair is the Luxury of the Privileged:” 26th Annual Rauh Lecture by Vanita Gupta
  On Tuesday, Nov. 27, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Vanita Gupta delivered the twenty-sixth annual Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Lecture to a rapt audience at UDC Law.
• Stephen Bright talks death penalty, debtors’ prisons, mass incarceration at 25th Annual Rauh Lecture
  On Nov. 29, Stephen B. Bright delivered the 25th Annual Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Lecture, titled “Race & Poverty in the Criminal Courts: The Death Penalty, Debtors’ Prisons, Mass Incarceration and Other Injustices,” to a packed house at the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law.