ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University President Jeffrey S. Lehman will present his first campuswide open lecture on campus regarding affirmative action in higher education Friday, March 5, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in 401 Warren Hall; a reception will follow.

In his talk, titled "From Bakke to Grutter: Lessons Learned," Lehman will discuss why affirmative action in higher education has been such a challenging concept for Americans to understand, and he will draw on his experience as dean of the University of Michigan Law School during the five and one-half years that Grutter v. Bollinger was making its way through the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court definitively upheld the Michigan Law School's use of affirmative action in its admission policy in an opinion issued in June 2003.

Lehman's lecture is free and open to the public, and it is part of the ongoing Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA) Distinguished Faculty Program "Law, Norms and Society." Lehman's March 5 talk is a preamble to CIPA's Distinguished Faculty Conference, scheduled for the following Friday, March 12.

CIPA offers a two-year public affairs program for students, leading to the master of public administration (MPA) degree.

The March 12 CIPA conference, in 100 Caldwell Hall on campus, represents the culmination of collaborative research conducted by members of CIPA's Distinguished Faculty Program and their CIPA student research assistants during the 2003-04 academic year. The conference is free, but advance registration is requested. Call the CIPA office, at (607) 255-8018, by Friday, Feb. 27, to reserve a spot and to receive a full listing of conference details.

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Cornell Institute for Public Affairs: http://www.cipa.cornell.edu/