Rita P. Davis majored in English at Washington and Lee University. After graduating, she spent three and a half years as a police officer with the Lynchburg City Police Department. Ms. Davis attended the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond and then, after graduating magna cum laude, clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Little Rock, Arkansas. Following her clerkship, she joined Hunton and Williams LLP, now known as Hunton Andrews Kurth. After 15 years, Ms. Davis joined the Office of the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia as Section Chief for Trials in the Civil Litigation Division; she was the first woman and the first African American to hold that position. In January of 2018, the Honorable Ralph S. Northam, Governor of Virginia, appointed Ms. Davis as Chief Counsel — the first woman to hold that position.
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Event Overview
Rita P. Davis, Chief Counsel to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, will talk about her personal journey into activism from an English major, with a focus on the idea that “growth requires risk.”
The talk will be followed by a live Q&A, moderated by associate professor Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon.
This is the second online event in the Spring 2021 Barbara & David Zalaznick Reading Series: Together. Each semester, writers ranging from debut poets to internationally renowned authors visit the Cornell campus as part of the Zalaznick Reading Series. Sponsored by the Zalaznick family and hosted by the Creative Writing Program, this series has educated and entertained students and the broader Cornell community alike. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spring 2021 edition of the series has gone virtual, so from the intimacy of their homes to ours, a lineup of renowned writers will share their work.
The talk will be followed by a live Q&A, moderated by associate professor Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon.
This is the second online event in the Spring 2021 Barbara & David Zalaznick Reading Series: Together. Each semester, writers ranging from debut poets to internationally renowned authors visit the Cornell campus as part of the Zalaznick Reading Series. Sponsored by the Zalaznick family and hosted by the Creative Writing Program, this series has educated and entertained students and the broader Cornell community alike. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spring 2021 edition of the series has gone virtual, so from the intimacy of their homes to ours, a lineup of renowned writers will share their work.
Speaker
Rita P. Davis
Chief Counsel
Honorable Ralph S. Northam, 73rd Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia
Chief Counsel for the Honorable Ralph S. Northam, 73rd Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia
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