Rethinking Juvenile Law Through Education and Trauma
Friday, March 6, 2026, at William H. Bowen School of Law
Register to AttendKeynote Speaker
Dr. Miguel A. Cardona
12th U.S. Secretary of Education
Prior to founding Cardona Solutions, Miguel dedicated close to three decades serving the community as a teacher, award-winning school principal, district leader, Commissioner of Education for Connecticut, and US Secretary of Education.
As the 12th US Secretary of Education, Cardona focused on safely reopening and reimagining schools, overhauling higher education accountability, improving access and affordability to higher education, and providing upward economic mobility to more students across the country. Cardona has been a featured speaker at UCLA, University of Texas, Austin, Yale, Harvard, and many other colleges and universities of all sizes across the country. He has partnered with the Brookings Institute, Newsweek, and TIME magazine to chronicle the importance of public education and bring much needed attention to the challenges facing our students at this critical time.
Miguel currently serves on the boards of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz and the USC Schwarzenegger Institute of Policy. He served as a Resident Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 2025 and will be a fellow in the School of Management at Yale University in 2026.
Schedule
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Check-in and Complimentary Breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 9:10 a.m. Symposium Begins – Introductory Remarks
9:10 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. Key Note Speech by Dr. Miguel Cardona – 12th U.S. Secretary of Education
10:10 a.m. – 11:10 a.m. Panel 1: Advancing a More Effective Juvenile Justice System
- Justice Rhonda K. Wood – Associate Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court
- Drew Shover – Chief Juvenile Probation Officer for Benton County, Arkansas
- Brenda Stallings – Attorney in the Pulaski County Public Defender’s Office
11:10 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. Break
11:25 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. Panel 2: Transforming Juvenile Justice Through Law, Policy, and Practice
- Ken Schmetterer – Litigation Attorney at DLA Piper
- Caren Harp – Deputy Public Defender in Columbia County, Arkansas
- Jennifer Brinkman – Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Children’s Law Center Clinic at Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law
12:25 p.m. – 1:25 p.m. Complimentary Lunch
1:25 p.m. – 2:35 p.m. Panel 3: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Legal Decision-Making
- andré douglas pond cummings – Dean and Professor of Law at the Widener University Commonwealth Law School
- Todd J. Clark – Dean and Professor of Law at the Widener University Delaware Law School
- Kellyn O. McGee – Associate Professor at Widener University Commonwealth Law School
- Angela Albertus – Practicing Attorney in New York City
2:35 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. Break
2:50 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. Panel 4: The Future of Juvenile Law: Education, Healing, and Accountability
- Becky L. Jacobs – Waller Lansden Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee Winston College of Law
- Nicholas Bolden – Associate Professor in the School of Policy, Justice, and Public Safety at Columbus State University
- Vanessa Miller – Assistant Professor of Law at FIU Law
3:50 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Symposium Concludes – Closing Remarks