Elena M. Herrada, a longtime community activist in southeastern Michigan, will be honored during Wayne State University's 2011 Criminal Justice Distinguished Alumni Presentation. Herrada will speak from 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. on March 28, 2011, at the Student Center Building, Hilberry C. She will present "The Criminalization of All of Us: Students, Immigrants, and Drivers" and share her experiences as a community activist and voice for social justice.

Herrada was involved in a number of famous events in Detroit's history. One that caught national attention was the case of Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn, former police officers convicted of beating to death Malice Green, a black motorist pulled over for a traffic stop on November 5, 1992. At the time, Herrada was a member of the Race Relations Council, which released a statement after sentencing. The statement read, in part: "The sentencing of former officers Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn by Judge George Crockett brings to a climax a trial that has tragically affected individuals and has uncovered racial divisions already existing in metropolitan Detroit."

Currently, Herrada is a member of the Detroit Board of Education. She is also a founding member of Centro Obrero de Detroit, Fronteras Norteñas (an organization dedicated to chronicling the history of Mexicans in Detroit) and Friends of Chicano Boricua Studies at Wayne State University. Herrada is on the board of directors for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights.

The presentation is free and open to the public. This lecture is part of the Department of Criminal Justice Distinguished Alumni Presentation series held annually and co-sponsored by the student Criminal Justice Club. For more information, call (313) 577-2705, e-mail dz9258@wayne.edu or visit www.clas.wayne.edu/CRJ.

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Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.