BUILDING BRIDGES INITIATIVE

Villanova Law hosted its launch event for the Building Bridges initiative, featuring former United States Sens. Kelly Ayotte ’93 JD, R-NH, and Russ Feingold, D-Wis. Mark C. Alexander, the Arthur J. Kania Dean and Professor of Law, moderated a discussion as the panelists explored how they built bridges across partisan divides while in office and how we can move forward in finding what unites us rather than what divides us. Read more about the inaugural Building Bridges event.

In partnership with the Villanova University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Villanova Law hosted a panel discussion in Washington, DC, with former White House Chiefs of Staff Joshua Bolten and Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty III, who discussed how they built bridges to accomplish bipartisan goals during their tenures at the White House.

This event featured the Honorable Tom Corbett, 46th Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and chair of the Pennsylvania Advisory Council, Keep Our Republic, and the Honorable Thomas I. Vanaskie, former judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; chief judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and member of the Pennsylvania Advisory Council, Keep Our Republic. Dean Mark C. Alexander moderated a discussion to assess the improvements, gaps and prospects of the new 2022 law. This discussion also explored how the Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA) would govern specific scenarios of dueling slates of electors, a state that fails to certify its presidential votes and a 12th Amendment contested election process. This event was held in collaboration with Keep Our Republic, which is a non-partisan organization that aims to discover, highlight and help prevent threats to American democracy, strengthen democratic guardrails and educate the public.

Villanova Law, the Anne Welsh McNulty Institute for Women’s Leadership and the Villanova Law Women’s Network presented Democracy and the Rule of Law: Our Rights and Responsibilities. This symposium included three sessions – "The Rule of Law," "The Canary in the Coal Mine" and "A Participatory Democracy" – and focused on the state of our nation, the arc of our democracy and our role as citizens in this participatory democracy.

Participants included:

• Mark C. Alexander, the Arthur J. Kania Dean and Professor of Law, Villanova Law
• Christopher “Casey” Cooper, United States District Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
• Michael Luttig, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Board of Trustees, National Constitution Center
• Emily Martin, Chief Program Officer, National Women’s Law Center
• Melissa Murray, Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at NYU Law and Faculty Director, Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center
• Teressa Ravenell, Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development, Villanova Law
• Marjorie O. Rendell, Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO, National Constitution Center
• Steve Vladeck, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center

As part of the Building Bridges initiative, the Villanova Law Federalist Society and the American Constitution Society co-hosted a discussion at the Charles Widger School of Law. The event, moderated by Professor Todd Aagaard, featured Louis Capozzi, associate at Jones Day and Matthew Wiener, former acting chair and vice chair of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS)