Southern University Law Center celebrates 75th anniversary - WGNO

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Southern University Law Center is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The center opened back in 1947 to help provide legal education to African-Americans everywhere.

30-year faculty member and Chancellor John Pierre says Southern University’s Law Center started as an intimate school with only 13 students, now they have over 900.

“You have to have the faith of a mustard seed. And if you have that faith of a mustard seed, you will see a beautiful bush grow beyond anyone’s wild imagination. That’s the story of the Southern University Law Center. We were just a little bitty mustard seed. And look at us now”, said Chancellor John Pierre, Southern University Law Center.

The Historically Black institution was born out of a man’s will to pursue his dreams and change the future.

“Southern University law center came into existence because of a courageous man named Charles Hatfield, and he applied for admission to the LSU law school. He was denied admission because of his color and for only that reason” said Pierre.

Hatfield then filed a suit against the state. It was years before the Civil Rights movement started…and as expected, Louisiana ruled against him. That move was the catalyst he needed to push the state into developing a law school for Blacks.

“Thinking right now about the 75th anniversary of the law center in all of the strides that Charles Hatfield’s had to make thinking about the fact that Southern University Law Center is the number one producer of black lawyers in the entire country, that’s impactful for me,” said Pierre.

“When you realize that when you pour yourself out into others, the ability that they have to pour themselves out into additional people, that domino effect is amazing,” said Shawn Vance, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

The center has produced Supreme Court judges, advocates, and more. Law Student Nzhada Harris is preparing to make her mark.

Something I’ll always take with me as a soon-to-be alumna of Southern University Law Center is the seriousness of purpose, making sure that everything I do is done with intention” said Nzhada Harris.

“Well, what we tell our students when they come to the law center is that we make history every day, so when they come into the building, they have a chance to make history”, said Vance.

Harris plans to defy the odds considering less than five percent of attorneys in the country are black.

“I feel that being specifically a black woman, that is my superpower and I have no fears and no worries about going into the practice,” said Harris.

“The environment that we created, so allows individuals to grow in a way that other institutions would not. And so to know that we’re having that kind of impact on our community, something that I’m very proud of” said Vance.

Click here for more information on the SU Law Center’s 75th Anniversary.

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source: https://wgno.com/news/louisiana/southern-university-law-center-celebrates-75th-anniversary/

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