Constitution Day Welcome & Debate:
Trax on the Trail Concert & Constitution Day Lecture
Keynote Speaker
Constitution Week Lunch Discussion:
The End of Affirmative Action & Student Loan Forgiveness
Panelists:
Usury Forum on Leadership
Panelists:
Accounting Career Fair - Public Service Jobs
Times Talk:
Climate & Politics
Supreme Court Review Panel
Panelists:
Constitution Week Lunch Discussion:
State Legislatures & Federal Elections
Time for Changes in the U.S. Supreme Court?
Panelists:
Cathy Cox became Georgia College’s 12th President on October 1st, 2021. Prior to joining Georgia College, Cox served as Dean for Mercer University School of Law from 2017 – 2021 and served as president of Young Harris College for a decade prior to that. A native of Bainbridge, Georgia, Cox’s distinguished career in law, education, politics, and journalism embodies what it means to have a “liberal arts” background.
Having first pursued an interest in cultivating plants, Cox earned her associate’s degree at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia, before turning her attention to journalism at the University of Georgia where she graduated summa cum laude. Writing for The Times of Gainesville and The Post-Searchlight of Bainbridge, Cox would cover local area crime and the courts, inspiring her to pursue a degree in law. She served as editor-in-chief for the Mercer Law Review before graduating magna cum laude from Mercer Law School. Cox practiced law in her hometown of Bainbridge and in Atlanta for 10 years, during which time she was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. She subsequently broke new ground in her election as Georgia's Secretary of State, becoming the first woman in Georgia’s history to serve in this Constitutional office.
During her term as president of Young Harris, the small private liberal arts college garnered a reputation for excellence, growing from a two-year to a four-year institution. Cox was recognized for her work in 2017 with the Young Harris College Medallion and was named an honorary alumna. In 2020, she was named Georgia’s Woman Lawyer of the Year by the Middle Georgia Chapter of the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers.
Cox is a graduate of Leadership Georgia and the recipient of Leadership Georgia’s prestigious J.W. Fanning Award for progressive leadership and service. She has served on a number of civic, philanthropic, and business organizations and boards and is a prolific thought leader, delivering scores of keynote speeches and presentations and conducting media interviews on a wide range of topics spanning her expertise in higher education, law, politics, and election law and integrity. Cox is married to attorney Mark Dehler.
Dr. George Kieh is currently the Paul D. Coverdell Visiting Scholar at Georgia College and State University, and Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Liberia, and M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University. He has held several administrative and teaching positions at various institutions, including Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Political Science at the University of West Georgia, Dean of International Affairs and Professor of Political Science and African and African American Studies at Grand Valley State University, Michigan, and Chair and Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, he is a scholar-activist, who was a political prisoner in his native Liberia in 1979 and 1984 for his pro-democracy activities (declared on both occasions as a “prisoner of conscience” by Amnesty International). His research interests include democratization and democracy. He has authored, co-authored, edited and co-edited several books, monographs, book chapters and journal articles, including the book “American Democracy in the World?”
Senior Judge Peggy H. Walker served as the Chief Juvenile Court Judge in Douglas County from 1998 to 2019. She graduated from Georgia College with honors, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and education. She attended Georgia State University and earned her Master’s Degree in Education and a Juris Doctorate of Law with honors.
Dr. Brooke Rudow is a Lecturer of Philosophy and Coordinator of Black Studies at Georgia College and State University. Her research focuses primarily on intersections between environmental ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of technology, and epistemology, though she also works in aesthetics, race theory, and feminist theory. Some of her publications include “An Environmental Ethic of Home” in Environment Space Place and “Environmental Ignorance,” in Radical Philosophy Review. She is currently working on a project on the ethics of artificial intelligence and will be teaching Critical Aesthetics: Race, Gender, and Environment in Spring ’24.
Adam Lamparello is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, and Georgia College’s Mock Trial coach and Prelaw Advisor. Prior to arriving at Georgia College, Professor Lamparello taught at Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mercer University School of Law in Macon, Georgia.
A practicing lawyer for over twenty years, Professor Lamparello is a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar and focuses primarily on appellate litigation. Professor Lamparello has drafted ten amicus briefs in cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court and is a contributing editor for the Appellate Advocacy Blog. Additionally, Professor Lamparello has drafted four books on constitutional law and law school pedagogy, and published over seventy law review articles, including in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, and Columbia Journal of Human Rights, on topics such as constitutional interpretation, criminal sentencing, and judicial review. Professor Lamparello received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California, a Juris Doctorate from Ohio State University, a Master of Laws degree from New York University, and a Master of Sciences degree from the University of Alabama.
Judge Ben Land is a lifelong resident of Columbus and a proud “Double Dawg” graduate of the University of Georgia. He excelled in Athens, where he finished top of his class as an undergraduate and second in his law school class of 202 students.
After a long and successful private law practice, Judge Land was appointed to the Superior Court bench on February 7, 2018. The voters of the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit returned him to that position by election in 2020.
Judge Land was sworn in as a judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals on July 20, 2022.
Jen Jordan, a native of rural Dodge county in Middle Georgia, has dedicated her career to fighting for Georgians who don’t have power, money, or status. Jordan graduated magna cum laude from both Georgia Southern University and University of Georgia School of Law. After beginning her career as a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Alaimo in Brunswick, Jen moved to Atlanta where she has practiced law for over 20 years.
Consistently recognized as one of the top attorneys in the state, Jen specializes in complex civil cases. Her work in the courtroom on behalf of Georgia consumers has resulted in multiple successful verdicts and reported appellate decisions, most notably representing consumers in multiple class action lawsuits against predatory payday lenders. Jen has served as an expert witness in consumer cases and in matters involving attorney fee disputes and has recovered millions for taxpayers representing relators in qui tam cases.
From 2017 to 2022, Jen represented Georgia’s 6th Senate District, which encompasses large parts of Fulton and Cobb Counties. In 2022, she was Georgia’s Democratic nominee for Attorney General. Actively involved in electoral politics and issue advocacy, Jen maintains a broad network of political contacts both in Georgia and across the country. She regularly serves as a political and legal commentator for outlets including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WABE, MSNBC, and CNN.
Jen lives in Sandy Springs with her husband, two children, and three dogs. When she’s not practicing law, you can find her hosting the VoteHer podcast or reading British mystery novels.
Stephen Bradley is Superior Court Judge for the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, and thus proudly serves the people of Morgan, Greene, Jasper, Putnam, Baldwin, Jones, Wilkinson, and Hancock Counties. Bradley received his undergraduate education at Emory University where he was a Hayward Pearce scholar and graduated cum laude. While obtaining his law degree at the Cumberland School of Law, Bradley was honored to be the lead oralist for the Moot Court Team and simultaneously presided on the Mock Trial and Moot Court Boards. Bradley clerked for the late Hon. Edward S. Smith of the Federal Circuit Court. Bradley has been a public servant in the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit for over twenty-seven (27) years. He joined the District Attorney’s office in 1994. As an Assistant D.A., Bradley personally handled more than twelve thousand (12,000) felony cases. When Bradley became District Attorney in 2015, he oversaw the expansion of victims services, including starting a circuit-wide Domestic Violence Task Force, and opening the Circuit’s first child advocacy center, the Bright House. In 2020, Bradley was elected to the Superior Court Bench, where he serves today. Bradley has been happily married to the former Lisa Rowe for twenty-seven (27) years. They have two beautiful daughters. Active with youth in the community, Bradley is a founding coach for the Baldwin County High School Mock Trial Team and has served as District Chair for the Boy Scouts of America and on the vestry of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Professionally, Bradley has twice served as President of the Ocmulgee Circuit Bar.
Matt Roessing is a Lecturer in Legal Studies at UGA’s Terry College of Business, where he teaches the legal aspects of business, real estate, and international trade. Matt taught business law at Georgia College from 2012-2017 and won several teaching awards, including the business school’s Students’ Choice Award and the university-wide Excellence in Teaching Award. He is a member of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business and recent winner of its annual Master Teacher Competition. While at Georgia College, Matt started the U.S. Supreme Court Review and helped expand Constitution Day into a week of cross-disciplinary events. Matt previously worked in the Washington, D.C. office of Arnold & Porter LLP and now runs his own law firm in Milledgeville, where he represents local business owners and serves on the board of the Chamber of Commerce. A self-professed “SCOTUS nerd,” Matt follows the Court and his discussions of its decisions have been featured on Georgia Public Broadcasting, Macon’s LawCall, and Georgia College’s WRGC. His Law Blog can be found here.
Steve Elliott-Gower is an associate professor of political science at Georgia College where he teaches classes in international relations, including a class on the politics of climate change. Steve has been at Georgia College since 2008, and among other things has served as director of the Honors Program, interim director of the Library, and interim director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. He has twice served as president of the Georgia Collegiate Honors Council, twice won the Georgia Political Science Association’s Excellence in Teaching award, and last year won the Department of Government & Sociology’s Excellence in Teaching award. In addition to his regular teaching duties, Steve serves as coordinator of the Honors Global Civic Literacy Residential Learning Community and is a regular contributor to Georgia College’s Times Talk program. Nationally, Steve has served as an American Democracy Project Civic Fellow and is currently a Council on Foreign Relations Education Ambassador.
Randy Beck joined the University of Georgia School of Law faculty in 1997 and has held its Justice Thomas O. Marshall Chair of Constitutional Law since 2011. From 2018 to 2021, he served as the school's associate dean for academic affairs.
Beck's constitutional law scholarship includes: "Qui Tam Litigation Against Government Officials: Constitutional Implications of a Neglected History" in the Notre Dame Law Review (2018); "Twenty-Week Abortion Statutes: Four Arguments" in the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly (2016); "Transtemporal Separation of Powers in the Law of Precedent" in the Notre Dame Law Review (2012); "Self-Conscious Dicta: The Origins of Roe v. Wade's Trimester Framework" in the American Journal of Legal History (2011); "Gonzales, Casey and the Viability Rule" in the Northwestern University Law Review (2009); "The Heart of Federalism: Pretext Review of Means-End Relationships" in the University of California-Davis Law Review (2003); and "The New Jurisprudence of the Necessary and Proper Clause" in the Illinois law Review (2002). His law and religion scholarship includes the chapter "The Biblical Foundations of Law: Creation, Fall, and the Patriarchs" in Law and the Bible: Justice, Mercy and Legal Institutions (InterVarsity Press, 2013) (with D. VanDrunen) and "God the Judge and Human Justice" in the Journal of Law & Religion (Cambridge University Press, 2016). Notably, in 2016-17, Beck served as the Garwood Visiting Fellow in Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.
A dedicated teacher and scholar, he has twice received the law school's C. Ronald Ellington Award for Excellence in Teaching and has been honored by the graduating class on four occasions as the recipient of the John C. O'Byrne Memorial Faculty Award for Furthering Student-Faculty Relations.
Prior to his law school appointment, Beck worked for more than five years as a general litigation associate with the law firm Perkins Coie in Seattle, Washington. He also has government experience from service as an attorney-advisor in the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel.
Beck has served as a judicial clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. He graduated first in his class at Southern Methodist University School of Law and earned his undergraduate degree from Baker University.
Gene Straughan is a professor and Director of the Justice Studies Program at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. He has won numerous awards for teaching such courses as American National Politics, State and Local Government, Law and Society, Political Philosophy, Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, First Amendment Law, Native American Law, and International Law. He has taught and coached undergraduate mock trial and moot court teams. He has also served as an agency program evaluator for Community Prosecution and Law Enforcement grants, funded by the United States Department of Justice.
Nicholas Creel is currently an Assistant Professor of Business Law at Georgia College. His research interests include religion and politics, international law, and constitutional law. His academic accomplishments include a recently completed PhD in political science from Texas Tech University, a JD from the University of Dayton, and an LLM in international and comparative law from St. Mary's University.
Ben Clark is a Senior Lecturer of Political Science in the Department of Government and Sociology, teaching courses in American government and political theory. He got his doctorate in Political Theory from the Catholic University of America and has taught at GCSU since 2015.
