President Randel invited faculty, staff and community leaders to a reception Monday, Jan. 19, on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday to affirm the University’s commitment to innovative research, teaching and community engagement that addresses race and ethnicity. Randel, University Trustees Valerie Jarrett (right) and John Rogers (left), and Cathy Cohen (center), Professor in Political Science and the College and Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, spoke to an overflow crowd at the President’s house. Randel announced that the University has made it a priority to raise $10 million for the center during the second half of the Chicago Initiative capital campaign. The center is dedicated to promoting scholarship and debate around the topics of race and ethnicity through interdisciplinary scholarship.