Marcel Groen

Marcel L. Groen (Born November 2, 1945) is an American lawyer and the former Chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party from 2015 until his resignation on February 2, 2018. Before being selected as the state party chairman, Groen's political experience in Pennsylvania included as Finance Chair of the Bucks County and Montgomery County Democratic Parties as well as Chairman of Montgomery County Democratic Committee since 1994.[1][2]

Marcel Groen
Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party
In office
September 12, 2015 – February 2, 2018
Preceded byJim Burn
Succeeded byNancy Patton Mills
Personal details
Born (1945-11-02) November 2, 1945
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Political partyDemocratic
EducationTemple University (BA, JD)

Early life and education

Groen was born November 2, 1945 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the son of Rabbi Nardus and Sipora Groen, a holocaust survivor. Groen and his family came to America when he was 10 years old.

Groen graduated from Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1963. He received a BA from Temple University in 1967 and a JD from Temple University School of Law in 1970.

Career

Groen was the founding partner of Groen, Laveson, Goldberg & Rubenstone in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Montgomery County Bar Association, Bucks County Bar Association. Groen was a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP working out of the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania office.

Controversy

In 2017 and 2018, Groen came under fire for his alleged failure to respond to calls to address what female party leaders and local activists have characterized as a culture of sexual predation within the party. Critics cite Groen's silence on sexual misconduct allegations against prominent state politicians, his failure to fulfill a commitment to create a party sexual misconduct policy after the alleged sexual assault of a state party delegate at the 2016 DNC, and his anger over calls to dismiss a close aide's controversial statements about the #MeToo movement as evidence of Groen's unwillingness to address sexual misconduct within the party.[3]

References
  1. "Meet the Chairman | Pennsylvania Democratic Party". Padems.com. 1945-11-02. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  2. Potter, Chris (2015-09-12). "Pennsylvania Democrats select Marcel Groen as party chairman | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  3. "Philly.com Silence makers: Why did Pa. Democratic Party go MIA on sex harassment? | Will Bunch". Philadelphia Daily News. January 30, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.


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