The Fred D. Gray Institute Fellows
2026- 2028 Cohort
Appointment of the 2026 Cohort of Gray Institute Fellows
Cassandra Adams
University of Alabama Law
Cassandra Adams
University of Alabama Law
Cassandra W. Adams is Assistant Dean for Public Interest Law and Assistant Professor in Residence at the University of Alabama School of Law, with more than 30 years of service to academia and the legal profession. She has also held leadership and faculty roles at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, Wake Forest School of Law, The University of Texas School of Law, and Vanderbilt University School of Law. She holds a J.D. from the University of Tennessee, an M.S. in Public Health from Meharry Medical College, and a B.A. from Fisk University. Her work focuses on mediation, restorative justice, ethics, and access to justice. Dean Adams has received numerous honors for her leadership and service to the Alabama legal community.
Tafeni English-Relf
Southern Poverty Law Center
Tafeni English-Relf
Southern Poverty Law Center
Tafeni English-Relf is the director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Alabama state office. She leads community-based strategies to build grassroots power in communities that advance racial and economic justice across the state. A native of Alabama, she brings nearly 30 years of experience in advancing civil and human rights. with a focus on building power, coalition development and advocacy that centers the voices of those most impacted by systemic injustices. In her current role, she works across sectors to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and promote community led solutions that address systemic inequities.
2025 – 2027 Cohort
Appointment of the 2025 Cohort of Gray Institute Fellows
Fred D. Gray Institute Fellows
2025 Cohort
At its inaugural symposium in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 14-15, 2025, the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights appointed to its second cohort of Gray Institute Fellows the following six distinguished individuals:
- Bryan Adamson, the David L. & Ann Brennan Professor of Law, and Associate Dean for Enrichment and Engagement, School of Law,
- Jeffrey R. Baker, Clinical Professor of Law and the Associate Dean of Clinical Education at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law,
- Bryan Fair, the Thomas E. Skinner Professor of Law, University of Alabama,
- Ayesha Bell Hardaway, Director, Social Justice Institute, Case Western Reserve University and Professor of Law, CWRU School of Law
- Reverend Derrick Jackson, Pastor of First Baptist Church, Gallatin, TN and co-founder of “Together Sumner”
- Reverend Trent Oglive, co-founder of Columbia Peace and Justice Initiative, Maury County, Tennessee and CEO of the Columbia Housing and Redevelopment Corporation
The Gray Institute Fellows are a national group of outstanding individuals with distinguished backgrounds and great competencies, appointed to two-year terms. They will be project-based, providing leadership and work as well as substantial external relationships to benefit the Institute’s initiatives.
The 2025 Cohort Institute Fellows will steward generative possibilities for thought and action arising from the 2025 Symposium – especially those that grow out of Attorney
Gray’s work in medical racism, voting rights, gerrymandering, human and civil rights law, and equal access to quality education for all.
The 2025 Cohort of Institute Fellows will also help cultivate the 2026 Symposium through planning, participation, and overall wisdom, and will nurture Institute relationships and bring expertise, ideas, and substantial work to the entire enterprise.
Professor
Bryan Adamson
Case Western Reserve University,
School of Law
Bryan Adamson
Case Western Reserve University,
School of Law
Professor Adamson is the David L. & Ann Brennan Professor of Law, and Associate Dean for Enrichment and Engagement. His areas of expertise are mass media and First Amendment law, and he has practiced extensively in re-entry advocacy, housing, mortgage lending and consumer protection. Professor Adamson has authored scores of articles in publications ranging from Yale Law and Policy Review and Harvard Journal of Racial and Ethnic Justice. Previously, Professor Adamson taught at Seattle University School of Law, practiced in the Litigation Department of Squire Patton Boggs (then Squire Sanders and Dempsey), and as an Assistant Prosecutor for Cuyahoga County. He has held visiting appointments at Washington University (St. Louis) and the University of Michigan Law School.
Professor Ayesha Bell Hardaway
Case Western Reserve University,
School of Law
Ayesha Bell Hardaway
Case Western Reserve University, School of Law
Ayesha Bell Hardaway is the Director and Research Coordinator of the Social Justice Institute and Professor with the School of Law. Her research focuses on criminal law, policing, and the intersection of race and the law. Her most recent work examines legal effort to remedy police misconduct and abuses through federal intervention and community oversight. Previously, Professor Hardaway served as trial and National Coordinating Counsel in the Litigation Department at Tucker Ellis LLP and as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. She is a graduate of the College of Wooster and Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Professor
Bryan Fair
University of Alabama Law
Bryan Fair
University of Alabama Law
Professor Fair joined the Alabama law faculty in 1991 and was named the Thomas E. Skinner Professor of Law in 2000. He is the author of Notes of a Racial Caste Baby: Colorblindness and the End of Affirmative Action (NYU Press 1997), and numerous articles on inequality in the United States. Professor Fair’s research agenda remains focused on equality theory under the Fourteenth Amendment, with the central theme that equal protection jurisprudence has lost its anti-caste moorings, rendering it largely obsolete to address significant forms of American caste.
Professor
Jeffrey R. Baker
University of Alabama, School of Law
Jeffrey R. Baker
University of Alabama,
School of Law
Jeffrey R. Baker is a clinical professor and the Associate Dean of Experiential Learning at the University of Alabama School of Law. He leads the Law Clinics, a public interest, teaching practice devoted to access to justice, human rights, social justice, and client empowerment. His scholarship explores issues of human dignity, social justice, legal education, and ethics, at the intersections of law, theology, jurisprudence, and public policy. Baker is an Alabama native, a graduate of Harding University and Vanderbilt Law School, and is a member of the bar in Mississippi, Alabama, and California.
Reverend
Derrick Jackson
Together Sumner
Reverend
Derrick Jackson
Together Sumner
Rev. Derrick Jackson is a prominent Tennessee religious leader who was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi. A man of flexible gifts and talents, Jackson is an entrepreneur, college instructor, author, executive of a religious publishing house, and pastor for the First Baptist Church in Gallatin, Tennessee. A galvanizing force for good, he co-founded “Together Sumner,” a community volunteer organization that seeks to facilitate racial healing, togetherness, and reconciliation in Gallatin, Tennessee and surrounding areas. “Together Sumner” engages the community in meaningful conversations and actions that bridge racial divides and strengthen bonds among neighbors. He is a graduate of Prairie View A&M University (B.B.A.), Vanderbilt University (M.T.S), and Lipscomb University (D.Min).
Reverend
Trent Ogilvie
Columbia Peace and Justice Initiative
Reverend
Trent Oglive
Columbia Peace and Justice Initiative
Reverend Trent Ogilvie is a visionary leader and compassionate community servant. As a founding member of the Stand Together Fellowship, created after the 2015 events at Mother Emanuel Church, he has united local leaders and citizens to address racial issues and foster positive change.
Inspired by Attorney Fred Gray’s question posed during a 2019 Pilgrimage, “What are you going to do?” Ogilvie, with Ministers Russ Adcox, and Demetrius Nelson, established the Columbia Peace and Justice Initiative (CPJI).
CPJI exists to explore the legacy of African-American history in their community and promote restorative justice today. Their work is guided by four essential pillars: exploring history, promoting justice, expanding understanding, and inspiring conversation.
Ogilvie also serves as the Executive Director and CEO of the Columbia Housing and Redevelopment Corporation.
2024 – 2027 Cohort
Appointment of the 2024 Cohort of Gray Institute Fellows
Fred D. Gray Institute Fellows
2025 Cohort
At its inaugural symposium in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 14-15, 2025, the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights appointed to its second cohort of Gray Institute Fellows the following six distinguished individuals:
- Bryan Adamson, the David L. & Ann Brennan Professor of Law, and Associate Dean for Enrichment and Engagement, School of Law,
- Jeffrey R. Baker, Clinical Professor of Law and the Associate Dean of Clinical Education at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law,
- Bryan Fair, the Thomas E. Skinner Professor of Law, University of Alabama,
- Ayesha Bell Hardaway, Director, Social Justice Institute, Case Western Reserve University and Professor of Law, CWRU School of Law
- Reverend Derrick Jackson, Pastor of First Baptist Church, Gallatin, TN and co-founder of “Together Sumner”
- Reverend Trent Oglive, co-founder of Columbia Peace and Justice Initiative, Maury County, Tennessee and CEO of the Columbia Housing and Redevelopment Corporation
The Gray Institute Fellows are a national group of outstanding individuals with distinguished backgrounds and great competencies, appointed to two-year terms. They will be project-based, providing leadership and work as well as substantial external relationships to benefit the Institute’s initiatives.
The 2025 Cohort Institute Fellows will steward generative possibilities for thought and action arising from the 2025 Symposium – especially those that grow out of Attorney
Gray’s work in medical racism, voting rights, gerrymandering, human and civil rights law, and equal access to quality education for all.
The 2025 Cohort of Institute Fellows will also help cultivate the 2026 Symposium through planning, participation, and overall wisdom, and will nurture Institute relationships and bring expertise, ideas, and substantial work to the entire enterprise.
Professor
Jonathan Entin
Case Western Reserve
University School of Law
Professor Jonathan Entin
Case Western Reserve
University School of Law
Jonathan Entin, David L. Brennan Professor Emeritus of Law at Case Western Reserve University, has known Fred Gray for 40 years. Their first encounter dates back to around 1985, though neither recalls the exact circumstances of their meeting. Professor Entin specializes in Constitutional Law and Civil Rights, with Mr. Gray standing out as one of the most significant graduates of the CWRU School of Law.
2024 Cohort
Dr.
Catherine Meeks
Independent
Scholar
Dr. Catherine Meeks
Independent Scholar
Dr. Catherine Meeks blends scholarly excellence with heartfelt activism, shaping her as a distinguished voice in socio-cultural studies and a beacon for community transformation. She spent 25 impactful years at Mercer University chairing the African American Studies Program and 9 years at Wesleyan College as the Clara Carter Acree Distinguished Professor of Socio-Cultural Studies.
Dr.
Derryn Moten
(in memorium)
Alabama State
University
Dr. Derryn Moten
Attorney Fred Gray and everyone in the Gray Institute family express their grief and sorrow at the recent passing of Dr. Derryn Moten.
Dr. Moten, considered the “quintessential scholar-activist,” was a tenured and full Professor at Alabama State University where he served as Chair of the Department of History and Political Science.
In addition to being an outstanding academic, Dr. Moten was co-president of the ASU chapter of the American Federation of Teachers’ Faculty-Staff Alliance and served as vice chair of the AFT Higher Education Policy and Planning Council. Dr. Moten also held leadership positions in the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Recently, Dr. Moten spearheaded a campaign that resulted in Alabama’s interim education superintendent, Edward R. Richardson, expunging the records of nine former Alabama State College students. In 1960, Alabama governor John Patterson and members of the state education board ordered the expulsion of the students for helping to organize and participating in the first student sit-in demonstration against Jim Crow in the lower South. Richardson also expunged the records of ASC faculty members and student advocates, Mary F. Burks, Jo Ann G. Robinson, Lawrence Reddick, and Robert E. Williams.
Dr. Moten’s successful activism in this effort was an appropriate conclusion to the case Dixon v. Alabama, the landmark 1961 Federal Court decision that spelled the end of the doctrine that colleges and universities could act in loco parentis to discipline or expel their students. It has been called “the leading case on due process for students in public higher education.” Attorney Fred Gray and Thurgood Marshall were among the counsel for the appellants.
In 2022, Dr. Moten, along with Professor Jonathan Entin at the Case Western University School of Law, encouraged US President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Attorney Fred Gray. Dr. Moten was a guest at the bestowal ceremony in Washington, DC.
Given his prodigious work for justice Attorney Gray asked Dr. Moten to be part of the ad hoc “Futures’ Committee” that created the proposal for the Fred Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights. Upon successful completion of that task, Dr. Moten enthusiastically accepted the role and honor of serving as an Inaugural Fred Gray Institute Fellow.
Dr. Moten is survived by his wife, Inga, and their four children.
We send them our condolences and mourn the loss of this man of integrity, intelligence, honesty, and faith.
Dr.
Phil Thompson
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Phil Thompson
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Phil Thompson is currently Professor of Political Science and Urban Planning at MIT. His work has focused on local participation and empowerment, including the engagement of labor unions to strengthen community relationships and increase employment, safety, and political representation for low-income neighborhoods. As Professor at MIT he writes, “Almost all of my work attempts to use knowledge and technology at [this institution] to improve the lives of poor and marginalized people.
The Fred D. Gray Institute Fellows Program
Definition and Nature
Following a well-established model from academic and non-profit sectors, the Fred Gray Institute Fellows are a national group of outstanding individuals with distinguished backgrounds and great competencies. The 2026 – 2028 cohort of Fred Gray Institute Fellows were appointed by Attorney Fred Gray, who witnessed the announcement of their appointment at the National Symposium on March 13, 2026.
The Fred Gray Institute Fellows Program supports innovative interdisciplinary approaches to scholarship, especially as an outgrowth of Attorney Gray’s life work through law, medical ethics, history, political science, voting rights, and human and civil rights and the region in and surrounding Tuskegee, Alabama.
Institute Fellows are called to address the most important issues of our day, enabling the convening work of the Gray Institute to be sui generis. The Institute Fellows are actively engaged in establishing high quality reputation of the Institute.
Their work has been and remains a critical component to the early development and depth of the Institute’s programming.
Dr. David Fleer coordinates the Institute Fellows Program which began in March 2024.
David Fleer
David Fleer is a distinguished scholar, minister, and advocate whose life’s work brings together preaching, leadership, and a deep commitment to racial healing. Across four decades of service in universities and churches, he has consistently united intellectual rigor with pastoral wisdom and public engagement.
From 2007 to 2023, Fleer served as tenured Professor of Bible and Communication at Lipscomb University, where he was known for shaping generations of students in homiletics—the art and theology of preaching. He also served as Special Assistant to President Randy Lowry (2007–2021) and as Executive Director of the Thomas H. Olbricht Christian Scholars’ Conference (2005–2023), strengthening its role as a premier gathering for Christian scholars.
He has also taught at Abilene Christian University and Rochester Christian University, equipping ministers and leaders for faithful, thoughtful proclamation. As co-editor of the acclaimed eleven-volume Rochester Series on Preaching (Chalice Press and ACU Press, 2001–2011), Fleer helped shape contemporary conversations about preaching in both scholarly and congregational contexts.
A defining chapter of Fleer’s vocation is his close work with legendary civil rights attorney Fred Gray. Gray, who represented figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks and played a pivotal role in landmark civil rights cases, has long stood at the forefront of the struggle for justice in America. Fleer now serves as Director of Advancement for the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights, helping extend the power of Gray’s legacy for future generations.
This partnership is the natural outgrowth of Fleer’s sustained commitment to racial reconciliation. Since 2013, he has led 26 “Pilgrimage to Justice” journeys through key cities of the American South, immersing participants in the history of slavery, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights Movement. These pilgrimages create transformative spaces for learning, lament, and hope—forming leaders who are better equipped to engage the moral challenges of our time. His work with Gray places him in direct continuity with the living history of the Civil Rights Movement and positions him to help steward its ongoing impact.
Earlier in his ministry, Fleer served from 1981 to 1991 as Senior Minister of the Andresen Road Church of Christ in Vancouver, Washington, and in recent years has provided wise interim leadership to congregations across the country.
His academic credentials include an M.Div. from Abilene Christian University (1981), a D.Min. from Fuller Theological Seminary, an M.S. in Speech from Portland State University, and a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Washington (1995).
Above all, David treasures his family. He and his wife, Mae, recently celebrated fifty years of marriage. They are grateful parents of three sons—Josh, Luke, and Nate—and delighted grandparents of six cherished grandchildren.
Through his scholarship, ministry, and especially his work alongside Fred Gray, David Fleer continues to invest in a future shaped by a faithful commitment to “doing justice” and “loving your neighbor as yourself.”