During a presentation last month, Professor of Law Roger Colinvaux delivered a warning to the students, faculty and staff gathered in the Moot Courtroom at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law: There are mounting political pressures on the nonprofit sector, and increased regulatory oversight threatens both organizational autonomy and the sector's foundational pluralism.
Colleges and universities, Colinvaux explained, are especially vulnerable because regulatory constraints could compromise higher education's capacity to foster the open dialogue essential to a pluralistic democracy.
His presentation, “Emergent Threats to the Charitable Sector,” was part of the Center for Business Law’s faculty speaker series, and emphasized that protecting these institutions requires vigilance against policies that could silence dissenting voices or constrain academic freedom.
“Professor Collinvaux is a leading scholar in the nonprofit field whose ideas influence when and how nonprofit entities are regulated,” said Eric Chaffee, who attended the lecture and is a professor of law at Case Western Reserve. “His lecture offered a panoramic view of the nonprofit sector that was as deep as it was broad. The law school was lucky to have him present this lecture.”
Colinvaux, who teaches nonprofit organizations, federal income taxation, legislation and property at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law—and is also visiting professor at The George Washington University School of Law—was invited as a speaker for the Norman A. Sugarman Nonprofit Lecture. This lecture celebrates the life and work of Norman A. Sugarman, who was born in Cleveland and attended Western Reserve University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Adelbert College in 1938 and his J.D. from the School of Law in 1940, and was a member of both Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif. After a distinguished career with the Internal Revenue Service, he joined Baker Hostetler as a partner in 1954. Sugarman passed away in 1986, but his impact on tax law continues, including with this lecture series.
The Center for Business Law at Case Western Reserve, which is co-directed by Professors Juliet P. Kostritsky and Eric C. Chaffee, is an initiative to prepare future leaders to understand business issues facing business entities, engage in research on the role and impact of government in the regulation of business, and to foster public debate regarding the role of government in the regulation of businesses. It is part of the robust business law curriculum at the School of Law.
