Press Release, Maryland Carey Law Launches Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law:

The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law has launched a new center to advance racial justice through education, advocacy, and research. The Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law is named in honor of Maryland Carey Law professors Larry Gibson and Taunya Lovell Banks, the first Black man and Black woman to become tenured professors at the law school. The announcement was made on Sept. 24 at Maryland Carey Law’s 5th Black Law Alumni Reunion, which has taken place every five years since 2003.

The overarching aim of the center is to improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities impacted by historical and modern-day racial and intersectional oppression. The center will engage in these efforts in partnership with a diverse array of stakeholders in Baltimore, the state of Maryland, and throughout the United States, including individuals and communities directly impacted by inequality and injustice, as well as organizations committed to racial and economic justice.

“The Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law is a vital addition to our law school and to the community,” said Maryland Carey Law Dean . “The center will provide a critical space for scholarship, engagement, and action on issues of race and the law. It will also serve as a resource for students, lawyers, and community members who are working to advance racial justice. The beauty of this center is that it will be a convener of all the relevant voices so we can get to the best solutions.”

The Gibson-Banks Center is led by Michael Pinard, the Francis & Harriet Iglehart Professor of Law, a nationally recognized expert on issues related to race and the criminal legal system who will serve as the center’s inaugural faculty director.