SLC100: 2026-27 Presidential Event Series
As Sarah Lawrence College marks its centennial, the 2026-27 Presidential Event Series invites the college community and guests to reflect on the ideas, institutions, and questions shaping our world – and our future. Against the backdrop of the College’s 100th anniversary and America’s 250th, this year’s events will bring leading thinkers and voices to Sarah Lawrence for timely conversations that draw on the past, examine the present, and consider what comes next.
Upcoming Event
Melissa Murray in Conversation with President Cristle Collins Judd
Tuesday, September 8
7 p.m.
On Campus & Streaming Online
Free and open to the public
Register online
Constitutional law scholar and New York Times bestselling author Melissa Murray returns to Sarah Lawrence to discuss her new book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader. Published as the nation marks its 250th anniversary, Murray’s accessible guide brings historical context and contemporary perspective to our founding document, examining how each article and amendment came to be and how they continue to shape our lives and rights today. The event will feature a conversation between Murray and President Cristle Collins Judd, along with questions from the in-person audience. A book signing and reception will follow.
Murray previously joined the Sarah Lawrence community in 2022 for the College’s History Matters series, when she discussed the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade.
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Melissa Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, where she teaches constitutional law, family law, and reproductive rights and justice. She is a co-author (with Andrew Weissman) of the New York Times #1 bestseller, The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary, as well as the New York Times bestseller, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader. Murray’s writing has appeared in a range of legal and lay publications, including the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. A popular teacher, Murray has received Berkeley Law’s Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction and NYU Law’s Podell Distinguished Teaching Award.
In addition to her work in the academy, Murray provides commentary as a legal analyst for MSNOW, and serves as a co-host of Strict Scrutiny, a Crooked Media podcast about the Supreme Court and legal culture. Murray is a graduate of Yale Law School and the University of Virginia. Following law school, she served as a judicial clerk to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, then a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Stefan Underhill of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
Explore Previous Years' Event Series
The 2026-27 Presidential Event Series builds on the work of previous event series: Building Bridges (2025-26); Polarization: Impacts + Solutions (2024-25); Being Human (2023-24); History Matters (2022-23); Belonging (2021-22), Justice (2020-21); E Pluribus Unum (2019-20); Difference in Dialogue (2018-19); and Democracy and Education (2017-18), which serves as an overarching umbrella for this work.