Ohio Northern’s BLSA Diversity Forum to focus on ‘The Importance of Diversity in the Legal and Political Fields’

The Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law’s 15th annual Diversity Forum will discuss “The Importance of Diversity in the Legal and Political Fields” in the Celebrezze Moot Court Room 129 on Friday, Feb. 21, at 11 a.m.

The ONU Black Law Student Association (BLSA), in partnership with the ONU Student Bar Association, ONU Office of Multicultural Affairs, the National BLSA, the Midwest BSLA and the ONU Student Senate, is sponsoring the event.

Ohio State Senators Eric Kearney (D-Cincinnati) and Capri Cafaro (D-Hubbard) will be the featured speakers. A question-and-answer session, moderated by Adrianna Braden, a second-year ONU law student, will follow.

Kearney serves as minority leader of the Ohio Senate and represents Ohio’s 9th district. Prior to joining the Ohio Senate, Kearney founded Sesh Communications – one of the largest African-American publishing companies, which publishes “The Cincinnati Herald,” “The Northern Kentucky Herald,” and “Dayton Defender.”

He also practiced law with two of Cincinnati’s most prestigious law firms. He is licensed to practice in the state of Ohio and before the United States Supreme Court. Kearney was appointed senator of the 9th district in December 2005. In November 2006 and 2010, the citizens showed their strong approval of his leadership by electing to keep Kearney in the Ohio Senate. He was elected minority leader in 2012. In his service to Ohio’s General Assembly, Kearney has championed the issues of small business development, child safety and healthy choices by working in a principled, bi-partisan manner.

Capri S. Cafaro has represented the state’s 32nd district since January 2007 when she was appointed to the 127th General Assembly. She has a long-standing interest in public policy pertaining to health care and the needs of older adults.

She was a state advocate representative for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and served as a councilor for the Medicare Rights Center. In addition, she previously served on the Trumbull County Senior Services Advisory Council and was a state policy liaison for Ohio with the National Patient Advocate Foundation. Cafaro also has acted as an economic policy associate for Global Action on Aging, an NGO with consultative status at the United Nations.

One year after becoming a member of the Ohio General Assembly, Cafaro secured a leadership position as assistant minority whip for the Senate democrats. She served as the minority leader until January 2012, making her the longest-serving Senate minority leader since the late 1990s.

During her tenure as leader, Senate democrats passed more bills than under any other leadership in the last decade. Cafaro currently serves as the ranking minority member on the Senate Standing Committees on Health, Human Services.