CARLISLE, Pa.—The Antiracist Development Institute (ADI) at Penn State Dickinson Law held its Third Annual Convening in Carlisle during early October. The three-day collaborative event brought together individuals inside and outside of the legal profession to learn, teach, implement and celebrate, with the goal of creating an antiracist legal academy, legal profession and society.
Calling the gathering “a demonstration of hope,” Penn State Dickinson Law Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway, the executive director of the ADI, saluted the power of love and humanity binding Convening attendees together during her opening remarks. She thanked them for showing up despite the instability, fear and unease they might be feeling in 2025.
“You are engaging with hope today. You have not given up. This is action. Look at the faces of this coalition. Look at the faces of the people you are in relationship with here today. This is the United States of America in this room,” said Conway.
The Convening drew 102 attendees, more than half of them members of the Penn State community. People traveled from as far as California, Florida, New York and Massachusetts to attend.
“What we all have in common in this room is we are becoming: We are becoming humanists, we are becoming partners in an organized, civilized society, and we are becoming the essence of love for one another,” said Conway. “We need to spread that.”
Each Convening provides attendees with time to network, share and reflect on how they can contribute to the ADI’s efforts to dismantle structures that support systemic racial inequality and intersectional injustice. The ADI uses a three-pillar system based on systems design, institutional antiracism and critical pedagogy.
The event included three cohorts with separate programming: the first for those in the legal academy and legal profession aiming to incorporate antiracist principles into their spaces, the second for those outside the legal academy and legal profession who also want to implement antiracist policies in their organizations, and the third for law enforcement professionals working toward obtaining the new Antiracist Leadership Certificate. The latter was spearheaded by an ADI POD, one of several University-wide working groups comprising students, staff, faculty and administrators.
The Convening featured two keynote speakers, who both drew on their respective experiences with the criminal legal system to deliver sharp critiques of mass incarceration. Reform advocate Kemba Smith Pradia spoke at the Convening Banquet on Oct. 9, and race and criminal justice scholar Paul Butler, the Albert Brick Professor in Law at Georgetown University Law Center, spoke on Oct. 10 to Convening attendees and first-year Penn State Dickinson Law students.
Gaining a sense of local history
Pre-Convening programming on Oct. 8 included a walking tour of Underground Railroad locations in Boiling Springs, a screening of the documentary "A History of the Underground Railroad and Abolitionists Throughout South Central Pennsylvania,” and a panel discussion with film director Bryan Wade, Carlisle historian Ruth Hodge, Hope Station Executive Director Rogette Harris and members of the Pennsylvania Past Players, a troupe of living history interpreters.
During the welcome session later that day, Conway introduced the ADI’s new associate director, Penn State Dickinson Law Clinical Professor of Law Jill C. Engle, who succeeds Dermot Groome. Engle emphasized her commitment to the ADI’s work. “We do not all have to do everything, but if we all do something, that is how antiracism virally spreads and continues,” said Engle.
ADI Program Manager TaWanda Hunter Stallworth applauded the commitment made by those in attendance, including Penn State Dickinson Law staff, faculty and alumni as well as ADI funders. “We are grateful to each and every one of you for sharing your time with us,” said Hunter Stallworth.
Penn State Dickinson Law alumni attending the event included Carlisle Mayor Sean Shultz, class of 2003; and G. Griffith “Griff” Lindsay III, class of 1979. Lindsay and his wife, Emily, support ADI efforts like the Convening through the Griff and Emily Lindsay Antiracism and Systemic Equity Program Support Fund. Romario Ricketts, class of 2025, also returned to Carlisle to moderate a panel.
Following the opening, cohorts dispersed to their afternoon sessions covering topics such as how to make the rule of law accessible and the history of the “Hester” Riots. Paul A. Gowder, the Frederic P. Vose Professor of Law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, taught a session entitled "The Rule of Law: What and Why?", one of several sessions eligible for continuing legal education credits.
Gowder explained how laws are designed to keep citizens free from fear and how democracy functions as a technology of mass empowerment. "I think of the rule of law as companion technology, the technology of coordinated policy enforcement. Now that we have made rules that are in the interests of the masses, how do we make sure that they stick? What kind of institutions do we need to create?" asked Gowder.
Later that evening, everyone reunited at the Carlisle Theatre for a screening of “Kemba,” the biopic based on keynote speaker Smith Pradia’s remarkable life story of being unjustly ensnared in the federal government’s war on drugs.
A chance to learn and forge new connections
On day two, all three cohorts began with a design thinking workshop. The ADI uses systems design methods to collaborate with legal scholars and professionals on the ADI-shepherded book series, titled “Building an Antiracist Law School, Legal Academy, and Legal Profession," which is being published by the University of California Press.
After lunch, the cohorts again enjoyed individualized programming before reuniting for the evening’s cocktail hour and banquet, held at the Barn at Creek’s End. It opened with a string ensemble from Carlisle High School playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the Black national anthem. The student quintet consisted of Helen Shine, Christabelle Kirkham, Emmanuel Quainoo III (Conway’s son), Noah Yang and Alec Weinstein Ellison.
During the banquet, Hunter Stallworth paid tribute to two ADI collaborators who passed away in 2025: Karl L.W. Singleton, the chief equity and compliance officer of the City of Harrisburg and a book series systems designer, and Brandon J. Flood, the former secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons who connected the ADI with Smith Pradia.
The banquet also featured remarks from Christopher P. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of AccessLex Institute, an early funder of the ADI, who told attendees they are doing important work. Mistress of Ceremonies Valerie D. James, senior assistant dean of academic and student services at Penn State Dickinson Law, seamlessly kept the evening moving, and Smith Pradia received loud applause following her address.
The Convening closed Friday morning with a powerful speech by Butler, who then conversed with Penn State Dickinson Law students and Convening participants about how to repair the broken criminal legal system. The event closed with Butler and Smith Pradia taking part in a panel discussion with NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) Senior Policy Associate Kristina Roth that was moderated by Ricketts, a fellow at the LDF.
A time for reflection and reevaluation
First-time Convening participant Ellen Min said she found it impactful to learn more about the history that surrounds her every day. Min, the associate director for Student Access & Achievement at Dickinson College, said she takes her children to Children’s Lake in Boiling Springs and on outings in Carlisle but did not know about the Underground Railroad connections or other history she discovered during the Convening panels.
“That is not history that I was aware of, nor did my students learn about that history when I was a local teacher,” said Min, who added she now feels inspired to share her new knowledge. “I want to take what I learned here and then bring that antiracist lens to the way that I am providing access to students."
Eric Kniskern, executive director of recruitment and enrollment initiatives at Widener University Delaware Law School, said the Convening encouraged critical thinking.
“Sometimes I feel like I am so busy I do not have time to stop and think about what I am doing. Is it the most effective way of accomplishing the goal? Are there other things that we can do instead of just trying to get your work done?” said Kniskern. “So having a time to stop and be around others who care about antiracism work, being able to think critically and be in that moment with them is really nice because ideas come out of it.”
Heather Hope Kuruvilla, an admissions counselor at Widener University Delaware Law School, agreed. “Being in a space that builds community across institutions is really important right now. The news wants to report the negative things because that brings clicks, so you do not hear about all the wonderful things happening,” said Kuruvilla. “What is happening here at this law school was the reminder I needed that there is good happening.”