Dinner Event Highlights Week At W&L
Washington and Lee University will celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with a weeklong series of events headlined by a Jan. 19 dinner and discussion focusing on King’s legacy and his impact on democracy.
The dinner and interactive discussion will be held in Evans Dining Hall at 6 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Seating is limited and advance registration is required; go to https://go.wlu.edu/MLK.
The event will feature dialogue between Brandon Hasbrouck ’11L, Sydney and Frances Lewis Professor of Law at W&L, and Blake D. Morant, Robert Kramer Research Professor of Law and former dean at the George Washington University Law School. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in the discussion.
Hasbrouck, who joined the W&L Law faculty in 2019, is an accomplished scholar and teacher who focuses on criminal law and procedure, constitutional law and theory, movement law and abolition. His research explores the legal and constitutional principles available to Congress and the courts to redress the ways law fails Black and other marginalized people, along with the structural possibilities for radical change in American society.
His work has been published in numerous leading scholarly journals, and he has authored or coauthored amicus briefs in federal court on some of the most important issues at the intersection of constitutional law and civil rights and habeas law. He is frequently consulted on litigation strategies involving civil rights and racial justice.
Hasbrouck is the three-time recipient of both the Ethan Allen Faculty Fellowship for scholarly excellence and the John W. Elrod Law Alumni Fellowship for teaching excellence. In addition, he was twice awarded the Lewis Prize for Excellence in Legal Scholarship and was voted the Student Bar Association’s Professor of the Year in 2022, the first Black professor in W&L Law’s history to receive the award.
Before joining the university, Hasbrouck worked at McGuireWoods LLP in Richmond, and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York. He also clerked for two federal judges.
Morant speaks around the globe on pressing issues in legal education. He has been published extensively in his areas of scholarly focus, including contract theory, media law and administrative law. In addition to his role at George Washington, he also serves as a distinguished counselor for the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). Prior to his time at GW, Morant served as dean of the Wake Forest University School of Law. He was also a member of the W&L Law faculty and served as assistant dean, twice receiving professor of the year honors from the Women Law Students Organization.
Morant has served in numerous national leadership positions at AALS and the American Bar Association (ABA), including as AALS president in 2015. Among his professional honors, Morant was named the John R. Kramer Outstanding Law Dean by Equal Justice Works and was recognized four times by National Jurist magazine as one of the most influential people in legal education.
Morant served as a visiting fellow of University College, Oxford and became the Straus Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the Caruso School of Law at Pepperdine University in 2022. He previously served as the Distinguished Visitor Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. He commenced his academic career at The University of Toledo College of Law. -W&L will also host various programming to celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., beginning Jan. 19. The following events are free and open to the public.
Area children are invited to attend a birthday celebration in honor of King on Jan. 19 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Evans Hall. There will be games, face painting, and arts and crafts. CARE will also be hosting Reading in Color, 30-minute periods of reading for younger children. Cake, snacks and punch will be provided.
Also on Jan. 19, the W&L Chanoyu Tea Society will honor the legacy of King with a Senshin’an Tearoom Open House in the Watson Galleries. There will be three 30-minute tea ceremony demonstrations at 1, 1:45 and 2:30 p.m. and registration is required; visit https://calendly.com/mwlu/ mlktea2026.
Area residents can also join W&L Hillel for a day of service from 2 to 4 p.m. on Jan. 19 at the Hillel House, assembling care-bags for children in need in Rockbridge County.
W&L’s Special Collections and Archives invites community members to an open house on Jan. 20 at 10 a.m. in the Tom Wolfe Reading Room, on the lower level of Leyburn Library, featuring items related to Dr. King and his legacy.
Also on Jan. 20, the W&L Art Museum will offer a special open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring artwork connected to the Civil Rights movement with insights from Wendy Castenell, assistant professor of art history, and Meaghan Walsh, the Louise C. Herreshoff Curatorial Fellow in American Art.
On Jan. 21, the DeLaney Center will present a screening of “Rising Hope” as part of its Screen to Square film series at 5:30 p.m. in Stackhouse Theater. The documentary is about a community fighting hopelessness in the Mississippi Delta, and the screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the director, Theo Avgerinos, and Dr. Cora Jackson, the Rev. Dr. Jason Coker and Roderious Phillips, who are featured in the film.
W&L Hillel and the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership invite all members of the W&L and local community to a Shabbat dinner and service honoring the life and legacy of Dr. King on Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. in the Hillel House sanctuary. Seating is limited so those interested should register in advance at https://go.wlu.edu/MLK.
On Jan. 24, W&L’s African Society will host its annual African Society Fashion Show and Dance at 6:30 p.m. in Evans Hall. The community is invited to come see fashion from all around the continent of Africa and enjoy African-inspired dances.
The university’s MLK Commemorative Planning Committee is co-chaired by Leslie Wingard Cunningham, associate provost for faculty development and professor of English and Africana Studies, and Tammy Futrell, dean of student engagement and leadership.
HASBROUCK
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