"Jack Greenberg was only 27 when he and his legal team successfully contested the 'separate but equal' doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court decision that ended racial segregation in public schools. On Friday, Greenberg gave the keynote address for '50 Years of Brown v. Board of Education,' a two-day symposium at the University Law School.

A half-century after the landmark decision, students and professors from across the region filled the Caplin Pavilion on Feb. 20 and 21 to hear experts explore the history and ramifications of the case.

The symposium was sponsored by the Virginia Law Review and the Center for the Study of Race and Law. Friday's panel focused on the relation between Brown and school integration.

Jeff Yarbro, editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Review, introduced Greenberg. 'I think Jack Greenberg is an example of what is best about the profession of law,' Yarbro said. 'He has committed his entire life to keeping justice, doing what is right and improving the lives of others.'

Greenberg, now a professor at Columbia University, worked with Thurgood Marshall during his time at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

'We filed the case to win the case,' Greenberg said. 'I was surprised and I assumed that others were too,' he said in reference to the LDF victory.

For lawyers who wanted to change the way race was treated under the legal system, Greenberg said schools were a good place to start because they were clearly run by the state and effected large populations. He said, however, that not all plaintiffs had identical reasons for arguing the case.

'Probably most plaintiffs did not start out seeking integration,' Greenberg said. 'Most wanted better education and sought integration as the way to get it.'

During a brief question and answer session, Greenberg was asked about any dangerous situations he experienced during desegregation cases in the South.

'I had no personal repercussions,' he said. 'I never kept a diary because I figured the FBI took one for me.'

Greenberg said his views on the present state of integration are mixed.

'There are 10,000 black law students throughout the country,' he said. 'But at the same time the black unemployment rate is double the white rate.'

A panel of scholars from various universities spoke following Greenberg's speech.

'We're 15 years into substantial re-segregation,' said Gary Orfield, a professor of education and social policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. 'The effects of Brown are being taken apart --- and being taken apart by the courts.'

Amy Stuart Wells, professor of sociology and education at Columbia University's Teachers College, presented the findings from her recent study, 'Against the Tide: Findings from a Study of Desegregated High Schools and Their 1980 Graduates.'

She said the paradox of school desegregation is that it prepares students for life in a very segregated society.

'There is no community that looks like my first grade class,' one 1980 graduate said in Wells' survey.

The two panels held Saturday focused on Brown and the civil rights movement and Brown and constitutional theory.

'We had a full house for both of our panels,' said Virginia Law Review Managing Editor Daniel Christmas. 'I think the symposium was successful in provoking thought and catching people's attention.'" (Jayni Foley, Cavalier Daily, February 23, 2004)