The Nathaniel R. Jones Center on Race, Gender, and Social Justice
The University of Cincinnati College of Law has renamed its Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice after Judge Nathaniel R. Jones. The new name for the Center signifies our commitment to and alignment with the principles of Judge Jones’ impressive career as a champion for justice.
The Nathaniel R. Jones Center on Race, Gender, and Social Justice grows out of the Joint Degree program in Law and Women’s Studies, established in 1995—the first of its kind in the nation. The Joint Degree program focused primarily on courses designed to engage students in a rigorous, interdisciplinary, and intersectional study of the law and has expanded beyond the classroom to include new opportunities for experiential learning and community outreach, such as the Domestic Violence and Civil Protection Order Clinic, the Freedom Center Journal, and community-based research projects. Today, guided by the values of one of the nation’s most respected jurists, our goal is to move the Jones Center to a new level of impact and engagement driven by Judge Jones’ voice and his vision of providing legal access and knowledge to all.
Judge Nathaniel R. Jones’ remarkable career started in the 1950s when he was named director of the Fair Employment Practices Commission of Youngstown, Ohio. In 1962, he was appointed as the first African American assistant U.S. attorney in Ohio. He later served as assistant general counsel of the Kerner Commission; and, beginning in 1969, as general counsel of the NAACP. In that latter role, Judge Jones coordinated attacks against Northern school segregation—a vital, divisive, and poorly understood chapter in the movement for equality—twice arguing in the pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case Bradley v. Milliken, which addressed school desegregation in Detroit. He also led the national response to the attacks against affirmative action, spearheading and arguing many of the signal legal cases of that effort. Judge Jones’ story is an essential corrective to the idea of a post-racial America—his voice and his testimony offering enduring evidence of the unfinished work of civil rights and social justice.