 DR.
GENE CLARK
Charlotte School of Law
By Susan Manning
Gene Clark, recently appointed Dean of the
Charlotte School of Law, shared his vision of the new law school
with Charlotte Rotary. Dr. Clark comes to Charlotte from Charles
Darwin University in Australia. In addition to five degrees
(including a J.D. and a PhD in law), Dr. Clark, has an international
reputation as an outstanding educator and author of many articles
and publications.
The Charlotte School of Law is ready for lift off in August 2006.
The school is affiliated with Infil.Law, which is part of Sterling
Capital Partners. Other sites include the Florida Coastal Law School
and the Phoenix International School of Law. The Florida site has
been in business for 10 years and has achieved a number of
significant accomplishments including statewide leadership in the
bar pass rate; minority bar pass rate that exceeded the pass rate
for non-minorities; successful results in career placement, and Moot
Court competition victories.
Dr. Clark's remarks focused on three key areas: people, program and
place. Under the heading of people, Dean Clark shared a list of the
local leadership on the Charlotte School of Law Board including
Judge Shirley Fulton, President of Johnson & Wales, Art Gallagher,
Judge Henry Ramsey and others. He has also been recruiting an
impressive faculty with experience in teaching and legal practice.
The school has received inquires from over 2000 prospective students
and over 1000 applications have been received, which include 50%
from applicants outside of North Carolina, representing 46 different
states. The expected class size is 75-100 students with the average
age of 29 for the day program and 31 for the evening program.
When discussing the program, Dean Clark stressed that the most
important aspect is the ABA accreditation process. They will have
their first ABA site visit in the fall of 2007 and hope to achieve
provisional accreditation by spring 2008 and full accreditation in
2010. Schools have to be operational for one year before they can
begin the accreditation process. The program is built around the
following principles: student-centered, practice ready, serving the
needs of the underserved, and commitment to community service
through volunteer work and internships. Dean Clark shared with us
that Charlotte is the largest city in the United States without a
law school. The program is committed to being a 21st century law
school and will integrate cutting edge technology including smart
boards, podcasts, video conferencing, high tech Moot court, and
internet for all courses. The law school's library will be a
resource for students as well as open to the community. The school
has recently announced its facility location at 1221 E. Morehead
Street.
With regard to place, Dr. Clark emphasized that they were committed
to putting Charlotte in the law school and being involved in the
community in a variety of ways. Some of the community contributions
include 200-300 jobs for faculty and support staff, partnerships
with existing educational institutions including CPCC, UNC-C and
Queens, externships and innovation/research. Dr. Clark ended his
remarks with a favorite quote from Plutarch, "A mind is not a vessel
to be filled, but a fire to be ignited."
Head Table:
Tom Cottingham, Ronnie Pruett, Herb Harriss, Cecily Durrett, Mike
Hawley, David Erdman; Invocation: David Anderson
Visitors &
Guests:
Janice Stevens; Health & Happiness: Worth Williamson; Song & Piano:
Thomas Moore
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BIT OF
HISTORY |
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The Rotary office
receives many interesting requests from all sorts of places that
typically requires a bit of research. This week's challenge was
an email from a Rotarian in Terre Haute, Indiana who wanted to
verify if his grandfather, William B. Hodge, was a founding
member of Charlotte Rotary. If you have ever been in the Rotary
office, you know there is a wealth of history and information
stacked everywhere. Tucked safely in a file cabinet was the
original file folder for one William B. Hodge. The original
membership application was signed by Mr. Hodge and dated August
22, 1919. I replied he was not a charter member and that
Charlotte Rotary charted December 1, 1916. I scanned the
application and emailed a response back to the grandson. He was
thrilled to receive my response and said he never expected to
see the application. The wording of the application is the real
story here, and is quoted below:
Gentlemen:
I hereby apply for membership in the Rotary Club of Charlotte,
N.C., and realizing that membership therein implies obligations
on my part, I undertake:
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- To attend all meetings,
unless absent from the City, or prevented by illness or some
real emergency;
in short, I will make no weak excuses for non-attendance.
- To take active part in all
activities of the Club; do my share; pay my part; and
co-operate heartily,
accepting always the judgment of the majority that every
effort or undertaking of the Club deserves
my full support.
- To observe all rules of the
Club.
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Rotary Club of Charlotte
841 Baxter Street, Suite 118, Charlotte 28202
chltrot@bellsouth.net 704-375-6816 |
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Jim Adams reports his heart
procedure went well; Susan Manning
has returned to work part-time following her illness and was
at Rotary to prepare the speaker summary for the Reporter;
Powell and Dot Majors
are celebrating their 73rd wedding anniversary on June 14th;
Cynthia Marshall has
announced her retirement from Communities in Schools after
leading the organization for 21 years;
Sam Woodard's son,
Stephen, qualified for the
US Open; Jerri Haigler
(plus husband and son), Pender
McElroy, Bob Brietz, and
Gregg Walker will be
serving dinner to clients at Charlotte Rescue Mission on
June 29th; Thomas Moore
was so proud his niece and UNCC graduate,
Tuwela Moore, could join
him on Tuesday; Luther Fincher's
mother-in-law passed away last week. Our sympathy is
extended to Luther and his family.
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Community Announcements: *Dine Out For Kids
will be held June 20, with proceeds benefiting Communities
in Schools. Visit
www.cischarlotte.org for
this year's list of participating restaurants. *Brochures
providing scheduling for the CPCC Summer Theatre were made
available at Tuesday's meeting. Contact
Jerri Haigler if you have
questions.
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WTVI recently earned three Telly Awards, a highly respected
national and international competition that receives in
excess of 12,000 entries each year from all 50 states and
many foreign countries. The award of interest to Charlotte
Rotary is the one received for How I Survived the War, the
club's DVD containing stories of survival and sacrifice of
WW II veterans and their experiences in war.
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Rotary Scholarship Golf Classic
update: Motorola has pledged $5,000 and signed on at the
Silver Sponsorship level. Items for auction (weekend Condos,
vacations, etc.) and 175 gift bags (gift certificates,
discount coupons, pens, etc.) are needed. The cut-off date
for the Early Bird special rate is June 30th. If you are
unable to play, consider donating a round ($125) so a public
safety department employee can play that day.
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Colleen Blanchard was
introduced as the newest member of the club. Colleen is the
director and head of the Charlotte office of inlingua, a
language and intercultural service, where she is responsible
for marketing, creating new language programs, office
maintenance, training, hiring instructors and language
research. Contact Colleen at
cblanchard@inlinguase.com.
Welcome! |
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Attendance
Record |
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6/13/06 |
6/14/05 |
| visitors &
guests |
21 |
16 |
| club
members |
162 |
169 |
| total
attendance |
183 |
185 |
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New Members | Resignations |
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Colleen Blanchard |
Bob Weeks |
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Wedding
Anniversaries |
20 Pamela and Wes Clark
20 Dot and Tony Marciano
20 Jennifer and Arch McIntosh
20 Liz and Dick Reiling
21 Susan and Phil Kline
21 Brenda and George Rohe
23 Lotta and Harriman Jett
23 Kathryn and Pender McElroy
25 Maude and Henry Cantrell
25 Nan and Bill Loftin, Jr.
25 Joyce and George Robinette
25 Mary Beth and John Scharer
26 Mary and Ron Ciminelli
26 Karen and Pete Larson |
| Birthdays and
Birthplaces |
22 Cecily Durrett,
Washington, DC
25 Bill Bradley, New York, NY
26 Emmy Lou Burchette,
Greensboro, NC
26 Randall Groves,
Cleveland, TN
26 Ed Nowokunski, Ayer, MA |
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