D. Wendy Greene Speaks on Black Hair and Civil Rights at 2024 Hotz Lecture

Courtesy of D. Wendy Greene

Drexel University's D. Wendy Greene, a legal expert on grooming code discrimination, will deliver the 2024 Harman Hotz Lecture in Law and Liberal Arts on April 23.

Professor D. Wendy Greene, the director of the Center for Law, Policy, and Social Action at Drexel University Kline School of Law, is scheduled to deliver the 2024 Hartman Hotz Lecture in Law and Liberal Arts at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23. 

Greene, a prominent legal authority on grooming code discrimination, will present “#FreeTheHair: Locking Black Hair to Civil Rights Movements.”

The lecture is free and open to the public and will take place in the School of Law’s E.J. Ball Courtroom.

Renowned for her expertise in grooming code discrimination, Greene is the founder of the #FreeTheHair movement and a key figure in the development of the federal Creating a Respectful and Open World (CROWN) Act. 

As the first tenured African American woman law professor at Drexel University, Greene sheds light on how constructs of identity shape anti-discrimination law and how the law plays a pivotal role in securing civil rights protections for many individuals in her community.

The lecture will delve into the contemporary social justice movement aimed at addressing racial discrimination based on African descendants’ natural and protective hairstyles such as twists, braids, afros and locs, which is integral to the broader global effort to achieve racial justice for African descendants and other people of color. Greene will contextualize this enduring racial injustice within historical, legal and transnational frameworks while highlighting key reforms targeting race-based hair discrimination.

In addition to her academic pursuits, Greene is a sought-after legal commentator for various media outlets including The Washington Post, PBS News, BBC News, NBC News, ABC News and The New York Times. She has also provided legal expertise and counsel for more than 20 pieces of civil rights legislation and landmark court cases.

Greene holds a B.A. in English with double minors in African American studies and Spanish from Xavier University of Louisiana, a J.D. from the Tulane University School of Law and an LL.M. from The George Washington University School of Law.

About the Hartman Hotz Lectures in Law and Liberal Arts: Palmer and Marie Brase Hotz of Foster City, California, established the University of Arkansas Hartman Hotz Lectures in Law and the Liberal Arts to honor the memory of Palmer's brother, Hartman Hotz (1928-1981). Hartman Hotz earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Fulbright College. After graduating from Yale University Law School, he joined the faculty of the U of A School of Law, where he made significant contributions to the study of law. All lectures in the Hotz series are sponsored by the U of A School of Law, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, and the Hartman Hotz Trust Committee.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.