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THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

April 14-20, 2010

Page A-3

Second Front

Attorney General Holder to speak at Keith Center groundbreaking ceremony

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr., attorney

general of the United States, will speak at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University Law School at 1:30 p.m. onMonday, May 17. The ceremony comes on the heels of two generous gifts made to the Law School, in- cluding a combined gift from the Henry Ford II Fund and the Edsel B. Ford II Fund and a gift from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

In addition to his gift, Edsel Ford has com-

missioned a portrait of Judge Keith by local artist Nancy Mitter that will be displayed in the exhibit area of the Keith Center.

“I am grateful to the Henry Ford II Fund, the

Edsel B. Ford II Fund, the W.K. Kellogg Founda- tion, and other university alumni and friends, for making the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights a priority,” said Wayne State Univer- sity President Jay Noren. “The Keith Center will play a pivotal role in civil rights education and awareness nationwide through its various programs of legal studies and community out- reach.”

“Judge Keith’s life has been dedicated

to fighting for justice and opportunity,” said Wayne Law Dean Robert M. Acker- man. “These gifts, combined with A. Alfred Taubman’s 2006 gift (the largest in the Law School’s history) and gifts from many other friends of Judge Keith and Wayne Law, will help continue that legacy and make the Keith Center possible.”

The May 17 groundbreaking ceremony will

be attended by a number of dignitaries, includ- ing Gov. Jennifer Granholm, A. Alfred Taub- man, WSU President Jay Noren, Wayne Law Dean Robert M. Ackerman, Judge Damon J. Keith and Edsel B. Ford II. Wayne Law stu- dents, alumni, staff and friends are encour- aged to attend the ceremonial groundbreaking — scheduled the same day as the Law School’s commencement ceremony — at the northwest end of the Law School complex. Parking is available in structure #1 on Palmer Street in front of the Law School.

The Keith Center honors the life and legacy

of Judge Keith by carrying out his vision for civil rights. The Keith Center will advance learning, attract talented faculty, students and lecturers, enhance programming, and promote civil rights in one of the most culturally rich and diverse cities in the United States. The Keith Center will have active programs of legal studies and will promote community engage- ment.

The 10,000-square-foot Keith Center

building will feature an exhibit area, meet- ing space, conference space and a 60-person lecture hall. An exhibit area featuring Judge Keith’s life and work and focusing on civil rights will also serve as a reception area for

A. Alfred Taubman

In 2006, real estate developer and philan-

thropist A. Alfred Taubman made a $3 million commitment (the largest in the Law School’s history) to Wayne Law in honor of Judge Keith.

Taubman, a Detroit native whose philanthro-

py is well known in Southeast Michigan, is a member of the Wayne State University Founda- tion Board. He is a trustee of the College of Cre- ative Studies, serves on the executive commit- tee of Detroit Renaissance, chairs the Building Committee for the Detroit Institute of Arts and is president of the Detroit Arts Commission. He, along with industrialist/philanthropist Max Fisher, was instrumental in building the Riv- erfront Towers apartments, widely seen as a symbol of Detroit’s resurgence and a magnet for attracting new residents to the city.

Damon Keith and Alfred Taubman have been

friends for over three decades and have collab- orated on several previous projects, including the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution.

Until his death in 1987, Mr. Ford contin-

Damon Keith

the law school’s clinics. In 2009, the Law School moved forward

on a number of Keith Center programming initiatives thanks to more than $2.5 million in endowments. The Law School announced the appointment of John A. Powell as its first Damon J. Keith Distinguished Visiting Professor and Wayne Law Professor Peter Hammer as director of the Keith Center. As director, professor Hammer is responsible for initiating and continuing an array of programs, including the Keith Biennial Lecture.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foun-

dation supports children, families and commu- nities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve suc- cess as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are con- centrated in the United States, Latin America the Caribbean and southern Africa. For further information, visit www.wkkf.org.

Eric H. Holder Jr.

Eric H. Holder Jr. was sworn in as the 82nd

attorney general of the United States on Febru- ary 3, 2009 by Vice President Joe Biden. Presi-

Tiki Barber leaves pregnant wife for intern

Ex-Giants superstar Tiki

Barber dumped his eight- months-pregnant wife Ginny for former NBC intern Traci

Lynn Johnson, according to

sources cited in the New York Post.

The football star-turned-

NBC “Today” show correspon- dent left his wife of 11 years for the 23-year-old blonde, who also worked at the network’s headquarters, sources said.

Ginny Barber, who is ex-

pecting twins, found out about the relationship late last year after the run-around running back moved out of their home in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Johnson, a model-thin

bombshell, was photographed sitting next to Tiki last month at a Washington, D.C., screen- ing of a documentary on Sen- egal that he hosted for the Travel Channel. Sources be- lieve Johnson also accompa- nied Tiki to Senegal for the filming late last year, when Ginny was three months preg- nant.

The affair is particularly

surprising in light of the ath- lete’s longstanding disdain for his philandering father.

“I don’t give a (expletive)

that the relationship didn’t work,” he said of his par- ents’ split in a 2004 interview with the Post. “Not only did he abandon her, I felt like he abandoned us for a lot of our lives. I have a hard time forgiv- ing that.”

His confidants were

shocked. “He was always the nice guy

with a million-dollar smile,” a family friend said.

Tiki Barber, who reportedly relocated to an Upper West

TIKI BARBER and wife Ginny.

Side bachelor pad, released a statement in response to a Post report announcing the split.

“After 11 years of marriage,

Ginny and I have decided to separate,” he said. “This de- cision was a painful one, but we are moving forward amica- bly and will continue to work together to raise our children with the love and dedication they have always known.”

His spokesman declined to

comment. Ginny Barber is a former

fashion publicist and full-time mom to the couple’s two sons — A.J., 7, and Chason, 6. She, too, declined to comment.

Johnson could be seen

posing with a smiling gal pal in a pic on her MySpace page. The two are wearing red short- shorts and Giants jerseys emblazoned with Barber’s number (21).

Tiki and Ginny Barber

began dating 16 years ago when both were students at

the University of Virginia.

Elected officials and political

candidates can send information regarding issues to

bthompson@michronicle.com

Eric Holder

dent Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Holder on Dec. 1, 2008.

In 1997, Holder was named by President Clin-

ton to be the deputy attorney general, the first African American named to that post. Prior to that he served as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. In 1988, Holder was nominated by President Reagan to become an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Colum- bia.

Holder, a native of New York, attended public

schools there, graduating from Stuyvesant High School where he earned a Regents Schol- arship. He attended Columbia College, majored in American history, graduated in 1973. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1976.

While in law school, he clerked at the NAACP

Legal Defense Fund and the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. Upon graduating, he moved to Washington, D.C., and joined the Department of Justice as part of the Attorney General’s Honors Program. He was assigned to the newly formed Public Integrity Section in 1976 and was tasked to investigate and pros- ecute official corruption on the local, state and federal levels.

Prior to becoming attorney general, Holder

was a litigation partner at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington.

ued to support a wide variety of activities and programs benefiting many organizations in Southeast Michigan and the country. Car- rying on his father’s legacy, his son, Edsel B. Ford II, thereafter assumed the manage- ment of The Henry Ford II Fund. Believing that charitable giving should be perpetuated at every generation, Edsel Ford formed The Edsel B. Ford II Fund in 1993.

About Wayne Law

Wayne Law has educated and served the De-

troit metropolitan area since its inception as Detroit City Law School in 1927. Located at 471 West Palmer Street in Detroit’s re-ener- gized historic cultural center, the Law School remains committed to student success and fea- tures modern lecture and court facilities, multi- media classrooms, a 250-seat auditorium, and the Arthur Neef Law Library, which houses one of the nation’s 30 largest legal collections.

Taught by an internationally recognized and

expert faculty, Wayne Law students experience a high-quality legal education via a growing array of hands-on curricular offerings, client clinics, and access to well over 100 internships with local and non-profit entities each year. Its 11,000 living alumni, who work in every state of the nation and more than a dozen foreign countries, are experts in their disciplines and include leading members of the local, national and international legal communities.

For more information, visit www.law.wayne.

edu.

WSU Communication School to award

trailblazing journalists

Wayne State University’s Department of

Communication will honor Pulitzer Prize-win- ning columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. and Lynette Clemetson, founding managing editor of the- Root.com, with 2009 Helen Thomas Spirit of Di- versity in the Media Awards. Three local media professionals will be honored for their work “In the Spirit of Diversity.” They are Walter Middlebrook, assistant managing editor of The Detroit News; Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News and Bankole Thompson, senior editor of the Michigan Chronicle.

The Helen Thomas Awards reception will be

held Friday, April 16, from 6 to 9 p.m., at St. Andrews Hall in downtown Detroit. The awards honor Detroit native Helen Thomas, WSU ’42, the first woman chief of UPI’s White House Bureau and now a columnist for Hearst News Service.

Thomas, dean of the White House Press

Corps and one of journalism‘s living legends, has covered ten presidents beginning with the Kennedy administration. She is a trailblazer for women and journalists of Arab descent. The award was established to recognize her leader- ship role in promoting diversity in the media and the issues of race in America.

Pitts won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for com- mentary. Twice each week millions of read-

ers around the country read his syndicated column, run locally in the Detroit Free Press. The author’s newest book is “Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood.”

Clemetson is a veteran journalist and a cur-

rent Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. She helped establish the Washing- ton Post’s daily online new-media magazine, theRoot.com, after an award-winning career as a national and foreign correspondent for News- week magazine and the New York Times.

“This year we have an absolutely stellar array

of journalists who represent the best in the profession and demonstrate the value of having experienced and diverse voices in the media,” said Ben Burns, WSU journalism professor and chair of the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Awards committee. “Traditionally, this event has been instrumental in raising thousands of dollars to support our students in the Journal- ism Institute for Media Diversity.”

Tickets are $125 for professionals, $50 for

students and alumni of the Journalism Insti- tute for Media Diversity.

Call Reni Gresham at (313) 577-2627 for de-

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