Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
16
At FAMU law, blacks a minority
ORLANDO - Historically black Florida A&M University celebrated a law school graduation this month, its first in 37 years.
"This is the beginning of a new history," declared FAMU president Castell Bryant.
And it was - but not the history many expected to be written.
For the first time, black students did not make up the majority of a FAMU graduating class.
Enrollment at the new FAMU law school is 44 percent white and 12 percent Hispanic. Black students make up just 36 percent of the student body.
Those percentages are not what Florida lawmakers had in mind when they agreed in 2000 to re-establish the law school, which had been shuttered by the state in 1968 after the beginning of court-ordered int
egration.
FAMU supporters had promised the school would boost the s
mall percentage of black lawyers in Florida. Instead, the percentage of black students entering Florida law schools has dropped since 2002, when FAMU opened its doors.
And racial diversity at Florida's older, already established law schools also is declining.
"The bottom line appears to be that we are redistributing fundamentally the same number of African-American applicants," said Joseph Harbaugh, the law school dean at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, which has seen its percentage of entering black law students shrink from 12.4 percent three years ago to 5.4 percent today.
The numbers are similar at the University of Florida, where the number of black first-year law students dropped by half this fall. The law schools at Florida State University and the University of Miami also have seen declines.
FAMU was expected to offset those losses by expanding the po
ol of black law school applicants. But it was built in Orlando, where it has drawn many white and Hispani
c students.
Law school dean Percy Luney Jr. said he hears from FAMU alumni who want the school to be predominantly black. But he can't do that, he said. It would be wrong, and it would hurt the school's efforts to build a national reputation.
"I know there are people who think I'm not doing the service I'm supposed to do because I am not admitting more black students," Luney said in an interview. "But I cannot admit black students who do not have a strong likelihood of passing the Bar."
"I think that is the inherent conflict we have. And I don't know how we get beyond that."
* * *
FAMU law students were still taking their final exams in 1968 when movers began carting law books out of the library. The volumes were being shipped to FSU, which was opening a new law sc
hool a few miles away.
Even today, the image burns many alumni.
For years, they fought to get the law school back. Students marched on the Capitol. Black lawmakers tried repeatedly to get bill
s passed.
When the Legislature finally agreed to reauthorize the school in 2000 as part of a deal creating a new FSU medical school and a law school at heavily Hispanic Florida International University, then-Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan celebrated it through the hymns of the civil rights movement.
"It's a law school at last, it's a law school at last. Thank God almighty, it's a law school at last," Brogan said at a ceremony.
It's that history that made the 41 white faces in the school's inaugural class of 89 students so conspicuous.
And, at times, rancorous.
When the law school held its opening ceremony three years ago, black administrators picked a white st
udent to represent the class. The next day, their choice dominated classroom debate.
Students who got their undergraduate degrees from FAMU felt a black student should have been chosen. For them, attending the law school was not just about getting a degree. It was about resurrectin
g a mistreated black institution so it could enhance the status of black Americans.
They felt the school should primarily assist blacks - not whites taking advantage of a new low-cost school in Orlando.
"They felt the school was being sold out," said Carlos Woody, an African-American who was president of the school's student bar association.
Other students saw the school as a place to earn a law degree without having to move from home or incur major debt. Until FAMU opened, the only law school in the region belonged to troubled Barry University and cost $24,600 a year.
FAMU costs $7,200.
Jaime Roberto, a Puerto Rican student raising three kids, didn't have time to debate racial issues. But he said students would not let him sit on the sidelines.
"It seemed like you had to choose a camp," said Roberto, 35.
Students told him he should have learned more about FAMU's history, he said.
"Some people said, "I didn't come here
to learn about the institution,"' Roberto recalled.
"Well, you should not be here," they were told. "You don't just come to study. You come to be a part of the school."
* * *
When the Legislature created the FAMU law school, it promised a new campus and an annual $7.2-million operating budget. But what it gave with one hand, it took away with the other.
To free money for the school and its counterpart at FIU, the state eliminated two programs that provided about $7-milli
on annually for minority law scholarships. Law school deans say that is a big reason the percentage of entering black law students in the state has declined.
The scholarships helped black students afford private law schools such as the University of Miami, which costs $29,500 a year. It helped UF and FSU lure top black applicants also being recruited by elite law schools such as Yale and Berkeley.
Law school deans say FAMU hasn't stolen many black students from FSU or UF. The schools are st
ill too far apart in stature.
But the new FIU law school in Miami appears to have drawn Hispanics who would otherwise have studied in Tallahassee or Gainesville. Hispanics are the largest group at the law school, making up 41 percent of the student body. And the number of Hispanics has fallen at UM and St. Thomas University, two private law schools also in Miami-Dade.
UM Law School dean Dennis Lynch said the state would have produced more minority law students - and at a lower cos
t - if it had just expanded the scholarship programs instead of building new law schools.
Another factor hurting diversity: the increasing number of people applying to law schools in Florida. In 2003, the number of applicants reached an all-time high, making it more difficult for minority students to earn seats.
If the state did more to prepare black students for law school, the numbers of black lawyers would rise, said Rob Atkinson, an FSU law professor who sits on the school's
admissions committee.
FSU runs a popular summer program for minority students who are thinking about a law career.
"We are doing everything we know how to do to make sure we continue to have a diverse student body," FSU Law School dean Don Weidner said.
Even so, FSU has lost black law students every year since FAMU opened. Three years ago, black students made up 10 percent of the school's first-year c
lass. This year, they made up 6 percent.
* * *
About a week ago, the first class of the new FAMU law school assembled at the Orlando Expo Center to receive their doctoral hoods. Black alums swirled little rattlers - the school symbol - while beaming white parents bought their first orange-and-green Rattler apparel.
The struggle over the law school's racial identity, which dominated the first year, has calmed down considerably. The dean held town hall meetings to discuss racial issues. Seniors sponsored diversity workshops for incoming first-year students. Students put asi
de differences just to survive exams.
At the event, Woody, the student bar association president who mediated differences the first year, spoke to the graduates.
"Over the past few years, we have had our share of labor pains," he said to laughter.
But on this day, the issue that divided FAMU at its beginning was the source of school pride.
"I am throughly convinced that
the strength of this law school will come from its diversity," Woody said.
His classmates answered with rousing applause.
***************
If only the state could stop niggers from acting like niggers we would all be better off.
T.N.B.
At FAMU law, blacks a minority
ORLANDO - Historically black Florida A&M University celebrated a law school graduation this month, its first in 37 years.
"This is the beginning of a new history," declared FAMU president Castell Bryant.
And it was - but not the history many expected to be written.
For the first time, black students did not make up the majority of a FAMU graduating class.
Enrollment at the new FAMU law school is 44 percent white and 12 percent Hispanic. Black students make up just 36 percent of the student body.
Those percentages are not what Florida lawmakers had in mind when they agreed in 2000 to re-establish the law school, which had been shuttered by the state in 1968 after the beginning of court-ordered int
egration.
FAMU supporters had promised the school would boost the s
mall percentage of black lawyers in Florida. Instead, the percentage of black students entering Florida law schools has dropped since 2002, when FAMU opened its doors.
And racial diversity at Florida's older, already established law schools also is declining.
"The bottom line appears to be that we are redistributing fundamentally the same number of African-American applicants," said Joseph Harbaugh, the law school dean at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, which has seen its percentage of entering black law students shrink from 12.4 percent three years ago to 5.4 percent today.
The numbers are similar at the University of Florida, where the number of black first-year law students dropped by half this fall. The law schools at Florida State University and the University of Miami also have seen declines.
FAMU was expected to offset those losses by expanding the po
ol of black law school applicants. But it was built in Orlando, where it has drawn many white and Hispani
c students.
Law school dean Percy Luney Jr. said he hears from FAMU alumni who want the school to be predominantly black. But he can't do that, he said. It would be wrong, and it would hurt the school's efforts to build a national reputation.
"I know there are people who think I'm not doing the service I'm supposed to do because I am not admitting more black students," Luney said in an interview. "But I cannot admit black students who do not have a strong likelihood of passing the Bar."
"I think that is the inherent conflict we have. And I don't know how we get beyond that."
* * *
FAMU law students were still taking their final exams in 1968 when movers began carting law books out of the library. The volumes were being shipped to FSU, which was opening a new law sc
hool a few miles away.
Even today, the image burns many alumni.
For years, they fought to get the law school back. Students marched on the Capitol. Black lawmakers tried repeatedly to get bill
s passed.
When the Legislature finally agreed to reauthorize the school in 2000 as part of a deal creating a new FSU medical school and a law school at heavily Hispanic Florida International University, then-Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan celebrated it through the hymns of the civil rights movement.
"It's a law school at last, it's a law school at last. Thank God almighty, it's a law school at last," Brogan said at a ceremony.
It's that history that made the 41 white faces in the school's inaugural class of 89 students so conspicuous.
And, at times, rancorous.
When the law school held its opening ceremony three years ago, black administrators picked a white st
udent to represent the class. The next day, their choice dominated classroom debate.
Students who got their undergraduate degrees from FAMU felt a black student should have been chosen. For them, attending the law school was not just about getting a degree. It was about resurrectin
g a mistreated black institution so it could enhance the status of black Americans.
They felt the school should primarily assist blacks - not whites taking advantage of a new low-cost school in Orlando.
"They felt the school was being sold out," said Carlos Woody, an African-American who was president of the school's student bar association.
Other students saw the school as a place to earn a law degree without having to move from home or incur major debt. Until FAMU opened, the only law school in the region belonged to troubled Barry University and cost $24,600 a year.
FAMU costs $7,200.
Jaime Roberto, a Puerto Rican student raising three kids, didn't have time to debate racial issues. But he said students would not let him sit on the sidelines.
"It seemed like you had to choose a camp," said Roberto, 35.
Students told him he should have learned more about FAMU's history, he said.
"Some people said, "I didn't come here
to learn about the institution,"' Roberto recalled.
"Well, you should not be here," they were told. "You don't just come to study. You come to be a part of the school."
* * *
When the Legislature created the FAMU law school, it promised a new campus and an annual $7.2-million operating budget. But what it gave with one hand, it took away with the other.
To free money for the school and its counterpart at FIU, the state eliminated two programs that provided about $7-milli
on annually for minority law scholarships. Law school deans say that is a big reason the percentage of entering black law students in the state has declined.
The scholarships helped black students afford private law schools such as the University of Miami, which costs $29,500 a year. It helped UF and FSU lure top black applicants also being recruited by elite law schools such as Yale and Berkeley.
Law school deans say FAMU hasn't stolen many black students from FSU or UF. The schools are st
ill too far apart in stature.
But the new FIU law school in Miami appears to have drawn Hispanics who would otherwise have studied in Tallahassee or Gainesville. Hispanics are the largest group at the law school, making up 41 percent of the student body. And the number of Hispanics has fallen at UM and St. Thomas University, two private law schools also in Miami-Dade.
UM Law School dean Dennis Lynch said the state would have produced more minority law students - and at a lower cos
t - if it had just expanded the scholarship programs instead of building new law schools.
Another factor hurting diversity: the increasing number of people applying to law schools in Florida. In 2003, the number of applicants reached an all-time high, making it more difficult for minority students to earn seats.
If the state did more to prepare black students for law school, the numbers of black lawyers would rise, said Rob Atkinson, an FSU law professor who sits on the school's
admissions committee.
FSU runs a popular summer program for minority students who are thinking about a law career.
"We are doing everything we know how to do to make sure we continue to have a diverse student body," FSU Law School dean Don Weidner said.
Even so, FSU has lost black law students every year since FAMU opened. Three years ago, black students made up 10 percent of the school's first-year c
lass. This year, they made up 6 percent.
* * *
About a week ago, the first class of the new FAMU law school assembled at the Orlando Expo Center to receive their doctoral hoods. Black alums swirled little rattlers - the school symbol - while beaming white parents bought their first orange-and-green Rattler apparel.
The struggle over the law school's racial identity, which dominated the first year, has calmed down considerably. The dean held town hall meetings to discuss racial issues. Seniors sponsored diversity workshops for incoming first-year students. Students put asi
de differences just to survive exams.
At the event, Woody, the student bar association president who mediated differences the first year, spoke to the graduates.
"Over the past few years, we have had our share of labor pains," he said to laughter.
But on this day, the issue that divided FAMU at its beginning was the source of school pride.
"I am throughly convinced that
the strength of this law school will come from its diversity," Woody said.
His classmates answered with rousing applause.
***************
If only the state could stop niggers from acting like niggers we would all be better off.
T.N.B.