OU INTERNATIONAL LAW SOCIETY HOSTS HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS

The Oklahoma International Law Society (OILS) and its faculty adviser, Professor Evelyn Aswad, recently hosted Kristin McGeeney, the Senior Legal Adviser for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, as well as Dan Mahanty, the U.S. State Department’s director of the Office of Security and Human Rights in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and former head of the Office of Middle East affairs in DRL.  OILS greeted them with a welcome reception at Blackbird upon their arrival.  The next day Ms. McGeeney met with students for breakfast and dinner to discuss her experiences using international law to promote freedom of assembly and expression in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia while Mr. Mahanty discussed the integration of human rights considerations in U.S. government security policies throughout the world.  Professor Joshua Landis, Middle East expert from the OU College of International Studies, also participated in the dinner session.  In addition, OILS hosted an international law and affairs “speed mentoring” luncheon in which students asked career-related questions in small group meetings with each of the mentors, Ms. McGeeney, Mr. Mahanty, and Professor Aswad.