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Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno will deliver the keynote speech for the 2005 Women's Symposium at Northwestern University School of Law on March 8.

The Women's Leadership Coalition, a law student organization, has organized the week-long symposium, which brings together attorneys and scholars from around the nation to speak on issues of interest to women in the law. This year's theme is "Women Finding Their Voices."

Reno's speech will take place at noon in Lincoln Hall, 357 E. Chicago Ave., and is free and open to the public.

Reno was nominated by President Bill Clinton and became the first female attorney general of the United States. She held the position from March 1993 until the end of the Clinton administration in January 2001.

As U.S. Attorney General, Reno enforced policies on civil rights, race relations, corruption, the environment, gun control and immigration. She aimed to give ordinary citizens greater access to the justice system, while also ensuring that the federal government consistently accorded strict principles of due process. Focusing on the well-being of the nation's children, Reno pushed for reforms to provide assistance to troubled youths.

Reno delivered the keynote address at the Law School 's convocation ceremony in 2000. She urged graduates to go beyond narrow specialties and help address the overall problem of crime and unequal treatment in this country. Reno cited the Center on Wrongful Convictions, Children and Family Justice Center, and Center for International Human Rights as great efforts the Law School has undertaken.

Today, Reno continues her involvement with issues regarding dispute resolution, advocacy for children and the elderly, and law enforcement reform, and she has been recognized by several organizations for her public service. In 2000 she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and in 2003 she received the distinguished Stennis Center's Lindy Boggs Award for demonstrating the ideals of patriotism, courage, integrity and leadership through public service.

Reno received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University. In 1960, she was one of 16 women enrolled at Harvard Law School, where she received her LLB.

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