Admissions on Trial: Seven Decades of Race and Higher Education, airing Thursday, May 30th at 9 pm and Sunday, June 2, at 1:30 pm, takes an in-depth look at the debate over how universities choose their students.

For many schools, race is a factor in that process – a “plus” that can help determine who is admitted, and who is rejected.  A Supreme Court case called Fisher v Texas could soon end the use of race in admissions nationwide.  Understanding that issue means understanding the admissions process, and the history behind it.  The story begins in 1946, when The University of Texas was closed to African-Americans.  It continues in the 1990s, when the use of race was banned, and into the past decade, when it returned.  The documentary also looks to the future, where lessons learned at The University of Texas could serve as a model for race-blind admissions nationwide.

Hear from activists, lawyers, university leaders, students, admissions officials and people who fought segregation.  They discuss what diversity means, whether it matters, and how we should – and shouldn’t – be able to seek it.

Civic Summit: Why Bother? Austin After 10-1
Date: Tuesday, April 23
Time: taping begins promptly at 7:00pm (Doors at 6:30pm)
Location: KLRU’s Studio 6A (2504-B Whitis Austin, TX 78712 map)
RSVP: Attendance is free, but RSVP is required. RSVP Now

Why Bother? an ongoing dialogue on civic engagement, takes an in-depth look at how the change to Austin City Council’s governing structure will impact voters. Experts and community members from across the city meet to discuss issues that are most important to them, to try to figure out how 10 separate districts will reconcile their differences once the new council is elected.

Sponsored by the Strauss Institute for Civic Life, KLRU, and KUT, this event is part of Why Bother? Engaging Texans in Democracy Today, a news and public dialogue series intended to provoke a conversation among regular people about why Texas has one of the lowest rates of civic engagement in the world, and what we can do about it.

A new documentary produced by KLRU and journalist Lynn Boswell will explore questions of fairness, equality and what those words mean in university admissions nationwide.

To help fund production of this film, we are asking you to support our Indiegogo campaign. The goal of $25,000 will help with costs associated with travel, fact checking, research and use of archival materials. Funds raised through this campaign will directly support the production of this documentary.

There are great perks to thank you for your donation including an advance screening, panel & reception, as well as a private dinner. Supporting this effort shows you support quality journalism and public media.

Share, like and tweet about this project! More information can be found on our Indiegogo page.

Please join KLRU’s Overheard with Evan Smith for an interview with Christopher Hayes

Date: March 11
Time: 12:15pm (Doors open at 11:45am)
Location: KLRU’s Studio 6A (map)
RSVP: The event is free but an RSVP is required. RSVP now

Christopher Hayes is contributor and Editor at Large for The Nation and host of the MSNBC show Up w/ Chris Hayes, Saturday and Sundays at 7. Hayes is a former Fellow at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time, The New Republic, The Guardian and The Chicago Reader, among other publications. His book, Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy, was published in June of 2012. Hayes is in Austin to sign copies at the SX Bookstore.

We hope you’ll be there as Overheard with Evan Smith continues its third season of great conversation with fascinating people, always on the news and always with a sense of humor. The show features in-depth interviews with a mix of guests from politics, the arts, literature, journalism, business, sports and more, and reaches PBS viewers from California to Florida. We’d love to see you in the studio for the interview, and for a chance to join the audience Q&A after the interview.

As part of PBS’s After Newtown initiative, we asked our viewers how KLRU should respond to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. An overwhelming number of you wanted us to focus on access to mental health care. KLRU will also feature this video during Need To Know on Feb. 22.

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is dedicated to education, early detection and advocacy for people who suffer from mental illness. According to the group’s numbers, “one in 10 children struggles with mental illness severe enough to cause significant impairment to their day-to-day lives,” and only half of those children receive treatment. NAMI aims to diagnose these cases early, by working with teachers and parents to teach them how to identify and deal with symptoms.

NAMI Austin President Adrienne Kennedy joined us in studio for a conversation about what her organization does, and what sorts of resources are available to people living in Central Texas.

NAMI is hosting a Capitol Day on February 28 at the Texas State Capitol. Lawmakers will speak, lunch will be served, and an afternoon rally will take place on the South Steps. You can find more information about Capitol Day on their website namiaustin.org.

Please join KLRU’s Overheard with Evan Smith for an interview with Mayor Kasim Reed

Date: February 26
Time: 10:15am (Doors open at 9:45am)
Location: in KLRU’s Studio 6A (map)
RSVP: The event is free but an RSVP is required. RSVP now

Kasim Reed is Mayor of Atlanta and a rising star in the Democratic Party. He was elected in 2009 to his first term, and was a key surrogate for the Obama Administration during the 2012 presidential election. Prior to becoming mayor, Reed served in the Georgia General Assembly for 11 years. He is in town for the Texas Legislative Black Caucus Summit.

We hope you’ll be there as Overheard with Evan Smith continues its third season of great conversation with fascinating people, always on the news and always with a sense of humor. The show features in-depth interviews with a mix of guests from politics, the arts, literature, journalism, business, sports and more, and reaches PBS viewers from California to Florida. We’d love to see you in the studio for the interview, and for a chance to join the audience Q&A after the interview.

Other special After Newtown coverage includes:

After Newtown: Guns In America at 8 pm Feb. 19
AFTER NEWTOWN: GUNS IN AMERICA is an unprecedented exploration of America’s enduring relationship with firearms. From the first European settlements in the New World to frontier justice; from 19th-century immigrant riots to gangland violence in the Roaring Twenties; from the Civil War to civil rights, guns have been at center of our national narrative. Americans have relied on guns to sustain communities, challenge authority and keep the peace. Efforts to curtail their distribution and ownership have triggered epic political battles. This program traces the evolution of guns in America, their frequent link to violence and the clash of cultures that reflect competing visions of our national identity.

Frontline: Raising Adam Lanza at 9 pm Feb. 19
In the wake of the mass killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, FRONTLINE investigates a young man and the town he changed forever. Adam Lanza left behind a trail of death and destruction, but little else. He left no known friends, no diary. He destroyed his computer and any evidence it might have provided. His motives, and his life, remain largely a mystery. In collaboration with The Hartford Courant, FRONTLINE looks for answers to the central-and so far elusive-question: who was Adam Lanza? Also this hour: In the aftermath of the tragedy, President Obama called for a national conversation about guns in America. Nowhere is that conversation more intense than in Newtown, where FRONTLINE finds a town divided and explores how those closest to the tragedy are now wrestling with our nation’s gun culture and laws.

NOVA: Mind of a Rampage Killer at 8 pm Feb. 20th
What makes a person walk into a theater or a church or a classroom full of students and open fire? What combination of circumstances compels a human being to commit the most inhuman of crimes? Can science in any way help us understand these horrific events and provide clues as to how to prevent them in the future? As the nation tries to understand the tragic events at Newtown, NOVA correspondent Miles O’Brien separates fact from fiction, investigating new theories that the most destructive rampage killers are driven most of all, not by the urge to kill, but the wish to die. Could suicide and the desire to go out in a media-fueled blaze of glory be the main motivation? How much can science tell us about a brain at risk for violence? Most importantly, can we recognize dangerous minds in time — and stop the next Newtown?

Path To Violence at 9 pm Feb. 20th
Ever since the wake-up call that was Columbine, schools and law enforcement have developed multiple strategies to prevent attacks. Indeed, the horror of Newtown needs to be seen in a context that’s not defined by defeat. Remarkably, more than 120 school assaults have been thwarted in the past ten years. But, while security hardware and physical barriers can play a deterrent role, it’s been psychologists working hand in hand with law enforcement officers who have come up with the most helpful tools to prevent violent attacks. The Path to Violence tells the story of a powerfully effective Secret Service program – the Safe School Initiative – that’s helped schools detect problem behavior in advance. Yet, despite the progress made, recent attacks reveal a gaping hole in our safety net. Shooters like Adam Lanza, Jared Loughner and James Holmes all executed their attacks after they’d left their respective schools. In such cases, parents may be the first and only line of defense parents who are terrified of their own children and who receive inadequate help from the mental health and legal systems. Can the hard-won gains made by social psychologists and law enforcement be extended to encompass the parents and families of some of the nation’s most violent individuals? Further, is the country ready to have a national conversation about the balance between school safety and civil liberties that any such interventions – including gun control – require?

They will participate in a PBS NewsHour multimedia short course, which will take place Jan. 18-22 in Washington, D.C. The goals of the course are to give rising journalism stars an opportunity to be a part of history and collaborate with their peers from across the country, said PBS NewsHour Extra director Imani Cheers.

Second-year graduate students David Barer and Efren Salinas are among 14 student-reporters selected from a nationwide search. After being nominated by a professor, applicants were each asked to submit a cover letter, résumé, references, letter of recommendation, short biography, news clips and three story pitches.

“It was a great feeling to be selected for this short course,” Salinas said. “I’ve been working very hard since arriving at the School of Journalism, and I feel this is not only a validation of my hard work but an excellent opportunity.”

After visiting one of senior lecturer Kate Dawson’s classes in 2012, PBS’s Cheers invited Dawson to help lead the short course.

Instructors and student-reporters will arrive at the PBS NewsHour headquarters Jan. 18.

“It will be hectic,” Dawson said. “We’ll watch the show live on Friday, have a working dinner and then it’s a litany of 12- to 14-hour days.”

Barer will serve on a print team, writing stories about corporate donations and how the Obama administration plans to respond to environmental issues.

Salinas will serve on a film team led by Dawson. He will work on a video piece about the Hispanic vote, with a focus on the Dream Act and “Dreamers,” young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children.

To follow the multimedia short course blog, visit inaugblog.com. On Twitter, student-reporters will post under #newshouru and #inaugblog.

“Going through this boot camp will be tough but really rewarding,” Dawson said. “We’re working on some really innovative ways to tell stories, including some amazing shooting techniques. This will be like a mini multimedia course for students — a semester rolled into six days. We’ll just need some rest when it’s done!”

Viewer Council members will be periodically asked to answer short online surveys, to participate in individual interviews or participate in focus groups. Your participation is completely up to you – and you can opt out of the Viewer Council at any time. Another benefit to the program is you’ll receive a summary of responses from the survey and if possible, we’ll explain how KLRU will use the data.

As a reminder, we will never share your email or personal information with others. As with any research participation, your answers to these surveys will be completely confidential. We adhere to the highest standards of ethics in research.

The first survey of the year is focused on news and public affairs programming and, specifically, on how KLRU should respond to the tragic event in Newtown, CT.

To sign up for the Viewer Council, visit: http://www.klru.org/viewercouncil/
To take this month’s survey, go here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VCJanuarySurvey