Buies Creek, N.C.—Dr. Timothy O’Rourke of Virginia Wesleyan College, N.C. Representative David Lewis and Raleigh Attorney Phil Strach will take on the controversial subject of legislative redistricting at Campbell University’s annual Lecture Symposium. The event is set for Thursday, April 7, at 7 p.m. in Lynch Auditorium of the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business.
Dr. Timothy O’Rourke is Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Kenneth R. Perry Dean of the College of Virginia Wesleyan. He is co-author of “State and Local Government: The Third Century of Federalism” and author of “The Impact of Reapportionment,” voted a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book of 1980. His articles on electoral issues have appeared in such journals as Political Geography, the Virginia Law Review and the Journal of Law & Politics. He has testified on voting rights matters before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representive committees, and his work as an expert witness has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court. O’Rouke’s teaching interests include state politics, school law and voting rights and redistricting. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University.
Rep. David Lewis, of Dunn, is senior chair of the North Carolina House Redistricting Committee. Serving his fourth term in the House, Lewis is a current or former member of the committees on Agriculture, Education, Education Sub-Committee on Community Colleges, Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform among others. He is the co-owner of Quality Equipment, LLC., a farm equipment dealership employing 168 people. A Campbell graduate, Lewis received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
Phil Strach is an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Raleigh who primarily represents management and employers in employment discrimination cases and other complex civil litigation. He has repeatedly been recognized by peer review publications such as the Legal Elite, and Best Lawyers in the area of employment law. Active in political issues, Strach has served as assistant legal counsel to the North Carolina Republican Party and as North Carolina counsel to the Fred Thompson for President campaign. Strach was also a delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention. During the 2001 redistricting cycle, Strach served as associate counsel to the lead plaintiffs in Stephenson v. Bartlett—a landmark redistricting case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Campbell’s annual Lecture Symposium is sponsored by the Department of Government, History and Justice.