The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Support Center and Fair Housing Legal Clinic announce the retirement of Lillian Seymore after 17 years of dedicated service.
After retiring from a 29-year career as a teacher and administrator for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Seymore joined the staff at the Fair Housing Legal Clinic in March 1994.
“She was a perfect fit for the Clinic’s initiatives having been the desegregation implementation coordinator for the CPS Department of Equal Education Opportunity Program during
her last year at CPS,” said Professor Michael Seng, co-director of the Fair Housing Legal Support Center and Fair Housing Legal Clinic.
“In short order, we recognized Lillian’s special skills and named her the Clinic’s testing coordinator/director of investigations,” he said.
During her tenure she recruited, trained, and supervised a large and diverse group of testers who would go out and represent themselves as prospective renters and homeowners to help Clinic staff determine if discrimination was a cause for Clinic action. Seymore supervised all tests at the Clinic and assisted Clinic staff with the coordination of education and outreach programs. Seymore also trained board members, staff, lawyers, test coordinators, and testers for fair housing organizations, legal services organizations, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development staff, and staffs of state agencies and municipalities throughout the United States.
In addition, she represented The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Clinic as a speaker and panelist at local, regional, and national fair housing conferences. “But most of all, Lillian has been a good friend, caring colleague, and mentor to professors and students at the law
school,” Seng said. “She will be missed tremendously. We wish her well in her retirement.”