1.1A Senate resolution
1.2congratulating the Roy Wilkins Center on their 20th anniversary.
1.3WHEREAS, the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice was founded in 1992 as a joint
1.4effort of the University of Minnesota and the Roy Wilkins Foundation to carry on the legacy of Roy Wilkins, former
1.5chief executive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and is the first
1.6endowed chair established in a major public policy school named after an African American; and
1.7WHEREAS, Roy Wilkins was a 1923 graduate of the University of Minnesota who spent his entire career
1.8with the NAACP, and for 22 years, he was their top executive; during Wilkins' tenure, the NAACP led the nation into
1.9the civil rights movement and spearheaded efforts that became significant civil rights victories, including Brown vs.
1.10Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and
1.11WHEREAS, October 12, 2012, marks the 20th anniversary of the Roy Wilkins Center under the direction of
1.12economist Dr. Samuel L. Myers, Jr., a national authority on the methodology of conducting disparity studies and
1.13pioneer in the use of applied econometric techniques to examine racial disparities; the work of the Wilkins Center has
1.14focused on the underlying causes of racial and ethnic economic disparities, such as:
1.15• Will a race-neutral remedy produce an outcome as great as a race-conscious remedy?
1.16• Does a targeted business enterprise program increase the number of dollars going to people of color?
1.17• What is the trade-off between continual growth and persistent inequality? and
1.18• How effective are remedies pursued in other nations in reducing inequality? and
1.19WHEREAS, the 20th anniversary coincides with the 4th World Conference on Remedies to Racial and Ethnic
1.20Economic Disparities to be held at the Center on October 11-13, 2012, which has attracted dozens of scholars and
1.21activists from across the globe to probe the broader context of disparities; and
1.22NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the State of Minnesota that it congratulates the
1.23Roy Wilkins Center on their 20th anniversary.
1.24BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is directed to prepare an enrolled copy
1.25of this resolution, to be authenticated by the Secretary's signature and that of the Chair of the Senate Rules and
1.26Administration Committee, and transmit it to the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice.

1.27 1.28 1.29

Cal R. Ludeman Secretary of the Senate

David H. Senjem Chair, Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

1.30 1.31

Patricia Torres Ray State Senator, District 62

Kari Dziedzic State Senator, District 59

1.32 1.33

Jeff Hayden State Senator, District 61

1.34 1.35

Linda Higgins State Senator, District 58