Community activist, civil rights lawyer, and writer Arjun Singh Sethi delivered the convocation address at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, May 12. Sethi works closely with Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Sikh communities and is an expert in policing and counter terrorism reform, racial and religious profiling, and the best practices to combat hate violence. He is also actively involved in domestic and international surveillance issues and pre-arrest police civilian encounters, which include consensual stops, location tracking, predictive policing, biometric data collection, and countering violent extremist programs.

Sethi is co-chair of the American Bar Association’s National Committee on Homeland Security, Terrorism and the Treatment of Enemy Combatants and has served as a legal observer around the world. He previously served on the National Legislative Council for human rights and national security related affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union. Sethi is also an adjunct professor of law at both Georgetown University and Vanderbilt University. He also serves as an adviser for nonprofits and foundations on public policy, advocacy campaigns, and rapid-response organizing.

In 2018, Sethi published American Hate: Survivors Speak Out, which documents through testimonials the hate that impacted many people before and after the 2016 presidential election. It was named among the Best Books of 2018 by NPR.

Sethi’s other works have appeared in many national outlets including CNN, The Guardian, Politico Magazine, USA Today, and The Washington Post. He has also been widely quoted on television, radio, and in print, including BBC World Radio, NPR, The Independent, and The New York Times.

Based in Washington D.C., Sethi is a graduate of New York University and the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations