(SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Feb. 10, 2015)  Court decisions  resulting from recent national events including the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., the death of Eric Garner during an attempted arrest in New York City and the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. will be among the topics of an upcoming SUNY Empire State College statewide event: “Forum on Race and Policing: Issues, Progressions, Comments.”

“We will explore recent court decisions involving young black men and police in order to elicit multiple perspectives on the topics and generate dialogue as part of an educational, community-building event,” said Professor Menoukha Case, who will moderate the panel.

“The event reflects the college commitment to community engagement, academic, legal, political and social issues in an inclusive environment, where dialogue about current social issues is encouraged,” added David Henahan, college spokesperson.

The forum will take place from 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 18, and will be accessible to the public online through ESC-TV and at the college’s Manhattan, Buffalo/Cheektowaga, Long Island/Old Westbury and Saratoga Springs locations.

The forum will feature a panel moderated by Rhianna Rogers, assistant professor.

Panelists include members of the Minority Students in Action, scholars with expertise in race, civil rights and social justice and community activists from across the state.

The forum topic poses a question: “How can New Yorkers best respond to the racial tensions that have surfaced in the aftermath of recent national events, such as racial profiling, police brutality and the deaths of marginalized peoples?”

Event Location and Contact Information:

Online: streamed live via the Internet at http://www.esc.edu/esc-tv/

Buffalo: AppleTree Business Park, 2875 Union Road, Cheektowaga, Rhianna Rogers, 716 686-7800 or Rhianna.Rogers@esc.edu; Jane Cudmore, 716 686-7800, ext. 3836 or Jane.Cudmore@esc.edu.

Manhattan: 325 Hudson Street, fifth floor, Carl Burkhart, 646 230-1253, student.metro@esc.edu

Long Island: 220 Store Hill Road, Trainor House, Old Westbury, Frances Boyce, 631-360-4053 or Frances.Boyce@esc.edu

Saratoga Springs: 113 West Ave., Himanee Gupta-Carlson, 518 587-2100, ext. 2860 or Himanee Gupta-Carlson@esc.edu

About SUNY Empire State College

Empire State College, the nontraditional, open college of the SUNY system, educates more than 20,000 students worldwide at eight international sites, more than 35 locations in the state of New York, online, as well as face to face and through a blend of both, at the associate, bachelor’s and master’s levels.

The average age of an undergraduate student at the college is 35 and graduate students’ average age is 40.

Most Empire State College students are working adults. Many are raising families and meeting civic commitments in the communities where they live, while studying part time.

In addition to awarding credit for prior college-level learning, the college pairs each undergraduate student with a faculty mentor who supports that student throughout his or her college career.

 Working with their mentors, students design an individual degree program and engage in guided independent study and course work onsite, online or through a combination of both, which provides the flexibility for students to choose where, when and how to learn.

 Students have the opportunity to enroll five times during the year.

 The college’s 73,000 alumni are active in their communities as entrepreneurs, politicians, business professionals, artists, nonprofit agency employees, teachers, veterans and active military, union members and more.

The college was first established in 1971 by the SUNY Board of Trustees with the encouragement of the late Ernest L. Boyer, chancellor of the SUNY system from 1970 to 1977.

Boyer also served as United States commissioner of education during the administration of President Jimmy Carter and then as president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

More information about the college is available at www.esc.edu.