Gloria Lopez, Esq., a native of Belize, provides guidance on affirmative action matters to the 64 State University of New York campuses. She is passionate about social justice and human rights and understands the importance of fostering relationships with people from different backgrounds. As a member of the NYS Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, she was a key drafter of a paper published by the Commission that identified systemic barriers to minority participation in federally assisted housing programs.
As Fulbright Chair, her research involves the effects of international borders on indigenous people, finding suitable resolutions, and providing advocacy for the heritage, rights, and practices of indigenous peoples as a fundamental protection. For indigenous peoples divided by international borders, immigration legislation and enforcement pose many hardships. While exploring fundamental human/constitutional rights and practices, her project will assess denial or obstruction of rights and democracy in light of constitutional theory, politics, and through historical incidents, law, treaties, and fact; and the way these have changed over time.