10-Year Anniversary
The Path Ahead: Race, Inequality, and the Next Decade
The Center on Race, Inequality and the Law (CRIL) was established at New York University School of Law to confront and upend the laws, policies, and practices that perpetuate racial oppression and marginalization and to advance freedom and fairness for all. To celebrate 10 years of legal scholarship, policy advocacy, and community partnership, CRIL will bring together legal scholars, students, community leaders, and supporters to honor this work and invest in the next decade.
The 10th Anniversary Celebration will take place on Thursday, February 25, 2027, at 6:00 p.m. at Tishman Auditorium, NYU School of Law, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY. A reception will follow in Greenberg Lounge.
Featured voices will include:
● Ryan Haygood (CEO, Southern Poverty Law Center)
● Christina Swarns (Executive Director, Innocence Project)
● Damon Hewitt (Executive Director, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law)
The evening will celebrate CRIL's decade of advancing racial justice through legal scholarship, policy advocacy, and community partnership, while looking ahead to the Center's next decade of impact.
What Ten Years of Impact Look Like
Over the last decade, CRIL has hosted, co-hosted, or sponsored 111 public conversations focused on race and inequality, filed, drafted, or joined more than 40 amicus briefs to highlight racial justice concerns in the courts, and issued more than 30 reports and publications to underscore the enduring role of race and inequality’s influence on the law.
Race + Tech
CRIL challenges opaque automated systems that reproduce racial bias in policing, hiring, housing, and public benefits.
● Deployed a racial justice lens to inform the design, use, and implementation of algorithmic tools in the criminal legal system.
● Engaged in municipal efforts to review automated decision systems and algorithmic tools used by cities through a lens of equity, fairness, and accountability.
● Co-authored the Data Justice Act — model legislation protecting personal data and regulating surveillance technologies to reduce racial bias.
● Built the Technology & Racial Justice Collaborative, which tracks 2,000+ state and federal bills on law-enforcement technology, surveillance, and privacy.
● Advanced legislation alongside community partners to ban facial recognition technology in schools, residences, and public accommodations.
Race + Punishment
CRIL works to shrink the scale, scope, and reach of the criminal legal system and center freedom and liberation.
● Developed a five-pillar blueprint challenging the assumption that pretrial incarceration is necessary or just.
● Filed an amicus brief cited by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court when the Court struck down mandatory life without parole for felony murder as unconstitutional.
● Secured the release of eight incarcerated people from New York State prisons.
● Co-published Excessive Sentencers, which identifies patterns of excessive punishment by 140+ New York judges with over 1,200 years of sentences reduced on appeal.
● Trained countless criminal legal system actors—including judges, prosecutors, and defenders—to employ a racial justice lens in their work.
● Served as a steering committee member for the People’s Campaign for Parole Justice to expand opportunities for parole release, shift the composition of New York’s parole board, and improve decision-making.
Race + Place
CRIL challenges the ways structural racism shapes how communities are built and governed.
● Co-launched the Environmental & Climate Justice Initiative, which advocates for environmental protections by advancing state and federal laws in vulnerable communities.
● Partnered with the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition, a grassroots, tenant-led organization, which guarantees free legal counsel for tenants facing eviction.
● Conducted extensive research on large-scale data centers in communities of color to evaluate environmental impact while advocating for transparency and community participation in otherwise overlooked communities.
Race + Culture
CRIL challenges narratives that fuel racial inequality through public conversation, legal education, and movement building.
● Built the Race and Law Center Network, a nationwide coalition of law school based centers focused on racial justice to foster collaboration and deepen the impact of members’ research and advocacy efforts.
● Adopted The Appellate Project, which seeks to diversify the appellate justice pool to better reflect the community the judges serve.
● Home to the Initiative for Community Power and its Dismantling Racial Capitalism event series.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Your support is critical to CRIL’s mission, our community, programs, and partnerships that advance racial justice. All tiers include recognition in event materials, on the event webpage, and in CRIL’s 10-Year Anniversary Impact Update.
VSIONARY $100,000
Sustains a graduate fellowship supporting racial-justice leadership across one of our four focus areas.
Premier recognition as a Visionary sponsor in event materials, on the event webpage, and in select pre- and post-event communications, verbal acknowledgment during the program and recognition at the pre-event reception.
PATHFINDER $50,000
Underwrites a major research or advocacy project addressing an urgent racial-justice challenge.
Recognition as a Pathfinder sponsor in event materials, on the event webpage, and in select pre- and post-event communications, verbal acknowledgment during the program.
CATALYST $25,000
Produces a major research publication, policy roadmap, or legal resource that equips advocates with the necessary tools to confront racial injustice.
The following tiers will receive recognition in event materials and on the event webpage:
BUILDER $10,000
Funds a coalition strategy session, or rapid-response analysis—connecting legal expertise with community priorities.
ADVOCATE $5,000
Expands student engagement, public education, and narrative-change work to develop the next generation of racial-justice lawyers and leaders.
FRIEND $2,500
Provides flexible support for fellows, partners, and public programming.
All tiers include recognition in CRIL’s 10-Year Anniversary Impact Update.
Host Committee
Judy Bartlett (‘95) · Lisa Bonner (‘97) · Lisa Marie Boykin (‘95) · Richard Rosenthal (‘81)
Please save the date for our 10-year anniversary celebration on Thursday, February 25, 2027. We look forward to marking this milestone and sharing more details in the coming months.
Interested in sponsoring the event? Please contact law.race.inequality@nyu.edu.
Rewatch our 2017 launch event with Anthony Thompson, Loretta Lynch, Bryan Stevenson, and Sherrilyn Ifill.