“The only box you have to think outside of is the one you create yourself. If you don’t create a box, you’re just free to think.”

S. Brian Jones is Pace University’s first assistant dean for diversity and equity in theater and media arts, and he’s on a mission to empower students to think beyond the mainstream power structures in Hollywood and New York.

In addition to overseeing the Pace’s Storytelling for Equity and Inclusion Fellowship, Assistant Dean Jones is working with faculty to develop a new major: writing for diversity and equity in theater and media arts. “I have a lot of experience in programming and outcomes. I wanted to make sure that we were creating something that would go beyond the status quo and actually move things forward.”

"We can guide underserved and underrepresented communities to see their own power, find the audiences they resonate with, go out and source the money, and then take their work all over the globe.”

Jones is looking at how this program can do more to meet the needs of 21st-century students. “Diversity and equity have become big buzzwords, and everyone comes to those words with a different perspective. What I don’t want to happen is for people to get caught up in having to figure out what those words mean.” As faculty members have been exploring the kind of citizen artist this program will serve, Jones has been reaching out for input from a variety of top industry professionals.

In theater and media arts, opportunities are passed on through connections—and people coming up in the business scramble to get a seat at the tables of power. “I want this major to prepare students to excel—and also to invert the power structure. Look at artists like Sara Jones or Tig Notaro: They didn’t try to fit into mainstream standards. They went out and made something successful, and then Hollywood came to them. That only happened because they were able to see the value in themselves. That’s what this program could do.”

“We can teach students how to find their authentic voice and also how to understand the business side of the business—how to write a grant and apply for fellowships—while also being able to distinguish between opportunities that move them toward their goals versus the ones that get them off track. We can guide underserved and underrepresented communities to see their own power, find the audiences they resonate with, go out and source the money, and then take their work all over the globe.”

Premiering nationwide this Friday, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, is a socially conscious drama thriller based on the true story of a case that Elisabeth Haub School of Law Professors Randolph McLaughlin and Debra Cohen have worked on for ten years. The law school is located in White Plains, the very city where the dramatic events took place.

In 2011, Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an elderly African American veteran with bipolar disorder, was killed during a conflict with police officers dispatched to check on him after his medical alert device was mistakenly activated. The film recounts the excessive and brutal force executed by the police in their response to this non-threatening situation and provides a lens for society to reflect on the reform needed in policing tactics and our social justice system.

“This film is a tremendous opportunity to help not only bring the case into national focus, but to highlight the important issues – how police respond to aided calls versus criminal calls, how they police in African-American communities, and how they are trained to diffuse situations involving people in mental health crisis,” said Professor McLaughlin. “What was done was a text book ‘not to do’ if their intention was to de-escalate the situation and provide assistance.”

According to McLaughlin, when the police arrived, Mr. Chamberlain was asleep in his bed and made more than 60 attempts over the course of an hour and twenty minutes to explain that he did not call for help, did not need help and did not want to open his door. “When we heard the audio recording, we were shocked at the inhumanity demonstrated by law enforcement,” said Adjunct Professor Cohen. “Mr. Chamberlain had no agency over his own fate.”

The husband and wife legal team of McLaughlin and Cohen co-chair the Civil Rights Practice Group of Newman Ferrara LLP in Manhattan. They were asked to join the case by colleagues and fellow Haub Law alumni Mayo Bartlett and Wali Muhammad in 2012. A $21 million civil rights lawsuit was filed in federal court against the City of White Plains and several police officers.

The couple were compelled by the outrageous circumstances of the case and the resolve of Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. to find the truth about his father’s death. “Kenneth has channeled his anger and grief into creating a movement to reform police practices and provide other families with the support they need,” said Cohen. “I thought of my own father at that age who had cognitive challenges, and what that would have been like. I was certain he wouldn’t have been treated the same in this situation.”

The legal fight for justice has spanned over the past ten years, with a case currently still pending in federal district court in White Plains. Less than one year into legal proceedings, a grand jury declined to vote for an indictment, causing an uproar in the community and among social justice advocates. Another letdown came in 2017 when the district court dismissed most of the claims contained in a new lawsuit and excused several of the original defendants, including police officers. Following four-years of pre-trial motions, in 2020, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, restored claims of unlawful entry and non-lethal excessive force. Professors McLaughlin and Cohen are now preparing, with the legal team, for trial and hope that with the need for police reform gaining traction across the country, justice for Mr. Chamberlain Sr. can finally be achieved.

“No matter how hard you work as a lawyer it’s almost impossible to convey a victim’s point of view when a voice can’t be heard and they can’t testify for themselves,” added Cohen. “This film shows us the perspective of the man who is on the other side of the door and gives him a voice that we hope can inspire change.”

The film, which will be available in theaters and on demand on Friday, September 17, was produced and directed by David Midell, along with acclaimed actor, director and producer Morgan Freeman as an executive producer. Actor Frankie Faison plays Mr. Chamberlain Sr. in the film, which won the jury and audience awards at the 2019 Austin Film Festival where it debuted. Visit the Killing of Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain for more information.

About Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University

Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law offers J.D. and Masters of Law degrees in both Environmental and International Law, as well as a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) in Environmental Law. The school, housed on the University’s campus in White Plains, NY, opened its doors in 1976 and has over 9,000 alumni around the world. The school maintains a unique philosophy and approach to legal education that strikes an important balance between practice and theory. Haub Law launched its Environmental Law Program in 1978, and it has long been ranked among the world’s leading university programs, with a current #1 ranking by U.S. World and News Report.

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The Global Center for Environmental Legal Studies (GCELS) at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University successfully submitted and advocated for the adoption of groundbreaking motions to strengthen human rights and environmental protections at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress, which took place in Marseille, France from September 3 to September 11, 2021. Haub Law is one of only two law schools in the United States that is a voting member of the IUCN. Decisions made at the conference have wide-reaching implications for environmental law and policy around the globe.

“GCELS’ work with IUCN is guided by the paramount need to strengthen environmental rule of law and ensure human rights and environmental justice for communities most affected by climate change and environmental degradation,” said Haub Distinguished Professor of International Law and GCELS Co-Director, Smita Narula. “Our environmental law program puts what we teach into practice, both locally and globally, to drive real, impactful change.”

A delegation from Haub Law School, including students, alumni, faculty, and staff, joined some 6,000 other world leaders and decision-makers both virtually and in Marseille to influence the global conservation agenda and guide IUCN’s workplan for the next four years. GCELS’ motions ensured that the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies, promoted urgent measures to help prevent future zoonotic diseases, and upheld the right to food sovereignty under the landmark U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. GCELS also helped usher in a historic renunciation by IUCN of the colonial Doctrine of Discovery which for centuries has undermined Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty and rights. View details of these GCELS’ motions and of the work of student delegates in the Haub Law team.

“The recent IPCC science assessment that climate change is already producing irreversible damage and calling for urgent action to phase out fossil fuels, demands immediate actions. Our Climate Motion calls for exactly that,” said Dean Emeritus and GCELS Co-Director Professor Richard Ottinger.

Commenting on the significance of the peasants’ rights motion, Geneviève Savigny of the international peasants’ movement La Via Campesina said: “The vote on this IUCN motion shows the growing recognition of the positive role of peasants and Indigenous communities in the conservation of biodiversity. Public policies must promote food sovereignty and peasant agroecology that works with nature, not against it.”

Student members of the Haub Law delegation played a crucial role in drafting, submitting, and negotiating for the adoption of these and other motions. Since Spring 2019, and in the lead up to the Congress, dozens of Haub Law students and alumni have worked closely with GCELS’ Co-Directors and LLM Fellows and with Professor Nicholas Robinson and Professor Victor Tafur to advance environmental justice and strengthen environmental rule of law globally through the IUCN.

Student Haub Scholar Madison Shaff, who worked on the zoonosis motion, said “Our goal was to strengthen the health of the environment, and in turn, to prevent future pandemics. It has been a wonderful experience to be a part of something with such monumental impacts.” Student Haub Scholar Christopher Sudol, who worked on the motion renouncing the Doctrine of Discovery, added “I am honored to have helped draft and negotiate a motion that the Chair of the World Commission on Environmental Law, Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin, recognized as ‘one of the most important motions approved by IUCN, ever.’”

Professor Achinthi Vithanage, Associate Director for Environmental Law Programs, expressed her gratitude to the students and commented, “I am thrilled by the outstanding contributions made by our current and former students to the development of international environmental law and policy, especially their tenacity in navigating the new normal of virtual negotiations.”

University Professor on the Environment and Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus, Nicholas A. Robinson, notes, “[t]he Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is a thought-leader and change-maker in the global transformation to a sustainable world. At the IUCN WCC, equity and justice, for people and for nature, is advanced. It is time for action and I am proud that Haub Law continues to have such active participation in this endeavor.”

This year, leading up to the Congress, a two-day symposium was held entitled Peace with Nature: Laws for Ecological Resilience. Many Haub Law students, alumni, and faculty were featured panelists.