Pace University News

Pace’s environmental leadership is recognized nationally as  Haub Law Professor Achinthi Vithanage is named to the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Environmental Lawyers, honoring top legal minds advancing environmental and climate justice, The Green 500 reports.

In Newsweek, Pace Haub Law Professor Bennett L. Gershman weighs in on whether ICE agents can be prosecuted for fatal shootings. Gershman explains that federal agents do not enjoy absolute immunity and could face state murder charges or federal civil rights violations, depending on the facts. “Police officers charged with crimes or civil rights violations never enjoy absolute immunity,” he said, underscoring the constitutional limits on law enforcement authority.

Dyson Professor Melvin Williams speaks to USA Today amid coverage of leaked text messages involving Taylor Swift and Blake Lively. Professor Williams explains how the controversy clashes with Swift’s carefully cultivated parasocial relationship with fans, raising renewed questions about authenticity and celebrity branding. He notes that private communications made public can disrupt fan trust and reshape audience perceptions— the story gets picked up by Yahoo News Canada, Detroit Free Press, The Times Herald, Oshkosh Northwestern, Reno Gazette-Journal, Iowa City Press-Citizen, El Paso Times, and more.

The EDU Ledger, formerly known as Diverse: Issues of Higher Education reports that Provost Alison Carr-Chellman has officially begun her tenure at Pace.

Pace University has once again been recognized as a national leader in civic and community engagement, earning the Carnegie Foundation’s 2026 Community Engagement Classification.

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University welcomed Tyler Maulsby, Deputy Managing Partner of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein and Selz PC, to deliver the 2026 Philip B. Blank Memorial Lecture on Attorney Ethics speaking on, “Legal Ethics in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” Held virtually on Monday, January 26, Tyler examined how the expanding use of generative AI is reshaping the legal profession and raising critical ethical questions for lawyers, clients, courts, and the public.

Pace University is accepting nominations for the Trustee Award and Community Service Award, honoring exceptional graduating students for their academic excellence and community impact. Submit your nomination by Friday, February 27, 2026!

In a recent essay published by Harvard Law School’s Bill of Health, Pace Haub Law Professor Lauren Breslow and co-author Vanessa Smith call for stronger ethical and legal safeguards to protect genomic data from misuse, particularly when children and vulnerable communities contribute DNA for research purposes. “Precisely because so much genetic data is now collected, stored, and shared, the Times account raises the specter of a broader ethical vulnerability in genomic science: data systems built for beneficial research can be exploited for purposes to which volunteers who contributed their DNA did not agree,” write Breslow and Smith.