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AMHERST, NY. -- Several leaders from the Buffalo Niagara region will participate in a panel discussion on race and higher education, which will be led State Assembly Member Crystal Peoples-Stokes, as part of the ˿����Ƶ College Distinguished Leaders Lecture Series at 10 a.m. Jan. 8 in the Wick Campus Center Alumni Lounge.

Peoples-Stokes, a member of the State Assembly Committee on Higher Education, will lead the discussion by panelists Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown; Dr. Catherine Fisher Collins of the New York State Education Department Board of Regents; Dr. Gary A. Olson, president of ˿����Ƶ; Dr. Katherine S. Conway-Turner, president of SUNY Buffalo State; and Dr. Cynthia Zane, president of Hilbert College.

The panel discussion, which is free and open to the public, will be moderated by Dr. Isiah Marshall, Jr., ˿����Ƶ associate professor of social work and master of social work program director.

“We are honored to have Assembly Member Crystal Peoples-Stokes and this outstanding panel of leaders address this critically important issue in higher education, particularly as we near the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day,” said Olson.

Peoples-Stokes, who has served since 2003 in New York State’s 141^st Assembly District, is chair of the assembly’s Committee on Governmental Operations. She also serves on several other committees, including Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Environmental Conservation, Health, Higher Education, and Insurance. In addition, she is a member of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, and from 2013-15 was chair of the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators, which organizes the annual conference weekend to raise college scholarship funds for students of color. 

A former educator, administrator, community organizer and Erie County legislator,

Peoples-Stokes earned a master’s degree in student personnel administration and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from SUNY Buffalo State. 

The panel discussion event for the ˿����Ƶ Distinguished Leaders Lecture Series, which brings top government and public officials to campus to share their unique perspective on critical state, national and international issues, is being sponsored by Phillips Lytle LLP.

“Phillips Lytle is proud to partner with ˿����Ƶ College on the Distinguished Leaders Lecture Series,” said Kenneth A. Manning, partner at Phillips Lytle LLP. “Diversity is a core value at Phillips Lytle.  We look forward to working with ˿����Ƶ on this program and to learning a great deal from an elite group of speakers.”