2026 Brown Lecture to Examine What It Means to Be Admitted but Not Equal—Registration Opens Soon
2026 Brown Lecture to Examine What It Means to Be Admitted but Not Equal—Registration Opens Soon
 
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September 2026

Daniel Solórzano, professor of social science and comparative education and Chicana/o and Central American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and director of UCLA’s Center for Critical Race Studies in Education, will deliver the 2026 Brown Lecture in Education Research on Thursday, November 5, at 6:00 p.m. ET.

His lecture, “Admitted but Not Equal: What George McLaurin’s Story Tells Us About Race, Racism, and Education in 1948 and Today,” will explore a central question: What does it mean to be admitted to a university but still be denied the opportunity to attend as an equal?

Solórzano will examine that question through the story of George W. McLaurin, an educator who, at age 54, became the first Black student admitted to the University of Oklahoma in 1948. Although McLaurin was permitted to enroll in the university’s doctoral program in educational administration, he was segregated from his white classmates in the classroom, library, cafeteria, and other spaces across campus.

Drawing on archival research and the scholarship of pioneering legal scholar Derrick Bell, Solórzano will examine McLaurin’s challenge to the university’s treatment of him, which culminated in the landmark 1950 Supreme Court case McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents. Solórzano will also recover McLaurin’s fuller story as an educator, husband, and father and consider what his experience—and the decision that helped lay the groundwork for Brown v. Board of Education—reveals about the difference between gaining access to an institution and attending as an equal.

At a time when questions about racial inequality and equal opportunity remain deeply contested, the lecture will assess how patterns of exclusion can persist within educational institutions even after formal legal barriers have been removed—and what McLaurin’s legacy asks of researchers, educators, and policymakers today.

The 2026 Brown Lecture will be presented before a small, invited audience at AERA’s Dr. Felice J. Levine Convening Center in Washington, D.C., and livestreamed publicly to a global audience of scholars, policymakers, educators, students, and others.

Register Individually or as a Watch Party

Registration for the free livestream will open the week of September 28, when the registration portal will be posted on the AERA website. Building on the watch-party initiative introduced with the 2025 lecture, attendees will be able to register to watch individually, gather with others for an in-person watch party, or host a virtual watch party.

“The Annual Brown Lecture brings education research to bear on some of the most consequential questions facing our society,” said AERA Executive Director Tabbye Chavous. “Dr. Solórzano’s talk promises to be an insightful exploration of what George McLaurin’s experience can teach us about access, equality, and equity in education today. Following the success of last year’s initiative, we are excited to expand opportunities to participate through both in-person and virtual watch parties.”

Watch-party participants are encouraged to share photos and videos, join the conversation on social media using #AERABrownLecture, and tag AERA on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, or Threads.

The Annual Brown Lecture highlights the important role of research in advancing understanding of equality and equity in education. The lectureship was inaugurated in 2004 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court took scientific research into account.