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ACLU and Miami-Dade Public Schools Team Up to Sponsor Student Conference
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Leadership and Civil Liberties
Leadership and Civil Liberties
November 28, 2001
In an effort to encourage students to take action and express their views about issues that are making headlines today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida is teaming up with the Student Government Association of Miami-Dade County Public Schools to co-sponsor a student conference on leadership and civil liberties.
More than 300 Student Government officers and high school newspaper editors from public high schools across the county have registered to attend the 2001 Student Leadership Conference from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 29 at Miami-Dade Community College Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Avenue.
"In light of the controversial steps our government has taken to limit constitutional freedoms to combat terrorism, we wanted to give students the opportunity to have frank, open discussions with community leaders about topics that are making headlines today," said Alessandra Soler, Public Education Director of the ACLU of Florida. "Students are also concerned about how their civil liberties are being implicated in the name of national security, and this is their chance to ask questions about issues like free expression, dissenting viewpoints and ethnic scapegoating."
Recently-named School Superintendent Merrett R. Stierheim will give the keynote address, which will be followed by plenary sessions on students' rights, diversity and tolerance. Altaf Ali, Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, will speak on discrimination against Muslims and Arab Americans and Reverend Willie Sims, of the Miami-Dade Community Relations Board, will discuss race relations in Miami-Dade County. There will also be workshops on "Your Rights with the Police," led by attorneys from the Miami-Dade Office of the Public Defender and officers with the Miami Police Department.
(A complete schedule is attached).
Who: Student Leadership Conference co-sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida and the Student Government Association of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
What: Student conference on leadership and civil liberties
When: Thursday, November 29, 2001, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Stierheim keynote address at 8:40 a.m.)
Where: MDCC Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave., Room 3210 (Bldg. 3, Second Floor)
Why: To educate students about civil liberties and leadership
Contact: Alessandra Soler, Public Education Director, ACLU of Florida (305) 773-8220 (cell)
- For more on the ACLU and student rights, click here.
- National ACLU Student Rights Page
