Dr. Joe Knippenberg, professor of politics, has been elected Vice Chair of the Georgia Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He is currently serving his second four-year term.

“The position doesn’t come with much in the way of power or patronage,” said Dr. Knippenberg, “but it will probably mean that when the time comes for the Committee to hold a hearing, I will be able to involve Oglethorpe students in doing a lot of the background research that makes its way into the final report.”

Created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 as an independent, bipartisan, fact-finding federal agency, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights informs the development of national civil rights policy and enhances enforcement of federal civil rights laws.