Symposium 2022


43.1                          COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF GENDER AND LAW                          1 

OPENING REMARKS FROM THE 2022 SYMPOSIUM  
THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT:  
A NEW GUARANTEE OF SEX EQUALITY IN THE  
U.S. CONSTITUTION 

 
Hello, my name is Nina Jaffe-Geffner, and I am the Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia 

Journal of Gender and Law. We are so thrilled to be co-sponsoring this event highlighting 
the significance of and potential for an ERA in the twenty-first century.  

 
I would first like to extend my deepest gratitude to our event co-sponsor, the CLS 

ERA Project, and specifically to the ERA Project’s Directors Ting Ting Cheng and 
Professor Katherine Franke. I know that I speak on behalf of everyone at the Journal 
when I say how deeply we have appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with you 
throughout this process, and it is a partnership that we at the Journal look forward to 
continuing. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Lilia Hadjiivanova, the Associate 
Director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law for assisting in the coordination of 
this symposium and facilitating its smooth operation over the next two days.  

 
Thank you as well to the Journal of Gender and Law’s Symposium Editors Tamuz 

Avivi and Diana Costin for dedicating their time over the past eight months to organizing 
this symposium event.   

 
And finally, a huge thank you to our incredible panelists. As a student journal, the 

goal of the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law is to engage with gender-related legal 
issues in a nuanced way that promotes both discussion and debate. Today’s symposium 
directly furthers that mission, and we welcome all of our speakers, who are the 
preeminent experts on the ERA and whose discussion I know will spark thoughtful 
commentary and debate within our law school community as well as among the many 
additional academics, practitioners and activists leading the continued charge for gender 
equality.  

 
I am looking forward to learning from them, and I hope you all are too. Thank you so 

much for joining us and please enjoy our symposium event.  
 

 
Editor-in-Chief, 2021–22 
Columbia Journal of Gender and Law