For immediate useNov. 14, 1997--No. 855

Law school to present Minority Law Day Nov. 21

By ERIC MAY
UNC-CH News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law will present its Minority Law Day Nov. 21.

The program begins at 12:30 p.m. and is open to anyone considering law school. Keynote speakers will be Judge Patricia Timmons-Goodson, a member of the N.C. Court of Appeals, and Kenneth Soo, an associate with Tharrington Smith in Raleigh.

Timmons-Goodson graduated from the UNC-CH School of Law in 1979. She has served as an assistant district attorney and district court judge for North Carolina's 12th judicial district. Besides producing and co-hosting a monthly television program highlighting the local court system and its programs, Tinimons-Goodson is active in the community and teaches Sunday school.

In 1992, the University of North Carolina named Timmons-Goodson a Distinguished Young Alumna. She received the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus' Leadership Award in 1995 and was given the 1996 Service Award by the Fayetteville Chapter of the NAACP.

Soo, a Winston-Salem native, is a 1991 graduate of the UNC-CH School of Law and an educational law practitioner. He is a member of the Wake County, Durham County and North Carolina Bar Associations; the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys; and the National Council of School Attorneys.

Minority Law Day, initiated in the early 1970s, is part of UNC-CH School of Law's efforts to increase minority enrollment and ensure ethnic diversity in its student body. The school holds open houses, hosts a high school symposium and encourages young alumni to help recruit new students. The fall 1997 incoming class was 19 percent minority students and 20 percent students ages 30 or older.

“Students with diverse backgrounds bring significantly different vantages and real-life experiences to the classroom,” said Judith Wegner, dean of the UNC-CH School of Law. “A diverse student body emulates trends in the nation's population, and helps law students practice navigating the complex multiracial society in which they will operate as professionals.”

Besides past academic performance and test scores, administrators at the UNC-CH School of Law consider factors such as leadership potential, service activities, personal statements, work experience, letters of reference, maturity, writing skills and history of overcoming disadvantages when making admission decisions.

Other distinguished minority graduates of the UNC-CH School of Law include Julius Chambers, chancellor of N.C. Central University and former head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Henry Frye, associate justice on the N.C. Supreme Court; and Randy Jones, president of the National Bar Association.

For more information, call J. Elizabeth Furr, assistant dean, at 919-962-5109.

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Law school contact: Audrey Ward, 962-4125

News Services print contact: Karen Stinneford