New York City ? The American Civil Liberties Union elected a new president on Saturday, choosing a constitutional law scholar who said she would reach out to African-Americans and to religious communities where the group has often been viewed more as foe than friend.

“We plan to reach out to communities where the ACLU is not well-known or not well-understood,” said Brooklyn Law School professor Susan Herman, the organization’s general counsel until the vote.

“There’s a very widespread misimpression that the ACLU opposes religion” despite its efforts to protect rights to religious expression, Herman told The Associated Press, adding that she was surprised “there aren’t more people in the African-American community that believe the ACLU is their organization.”