NCCU School of Law’s First Marketing Campaign — Mitzi Townes

NCCU School of Law’s First Marketing Campaign

BY MITZI TOWNES Collection and Access Librarian for the Law Library

On March 1, 1939, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted House Bill 18, which authorized the creation of a law school at the North Carolina College for Negroes, known today as the North Carolina Central University School of Law. During this time, racial segregation was the law of the land and African Americans were barred from attending law school at any of the White institutions in the state; therefore, a separate law school was established. Although the school was founded in 1939, it didn’t officially open until 1940 partially due to the lack of student enrollment. There was a miniscule pool of potential African American law students and reaching those students was challenging, especially for a historically Black college with limited resources. Marketing the newly founded law school to its targeted audience required a strategy that was cost effective, resourceful and productive. Today, we have a plethora of marketing tools that can be utilized to disseminate information, however, in an era preceding social media and computers, the options were few.

Maurice T. Van Hecke, served as the law school’s first dean from 1939-1942. Dean Van Hecke, who was also serving as Dean of the School of law at UNC- Chapel Hill, was enlisted to assist North Carolina College with the development of its law school. The newly appointed Dean was immediately confronted with the daunting task of student recruitment. In an effort to attract students to the program, Dean Van Hecke launched a letter writing campaign targeting historically Black colleges and universities(HBCUs) to inform them of the recently sanctioned law school for African Americans who desire to study law. Individually typewritten letters were mailed to the deans of HBCUs throughout the country, including North Carolina Agricultural & Technical College (now University), Howard University, and Georgia Normal and Agricultural College (now Albany State University) to name just a few. Incidentally, he also sent letters to a few predominantly White institutions such as Oberlin College, one of the first integrated colleges in the country and his alma mater, Harvard University. In addition to colleges and universities, Dean Van Hecke also made appeals to African American attorneys and other prominent members of the community, seeking their assistance promoting the law program to potential students. An endorsement from well respected leaders and professionals could provide “word of mouth” marketing that would be beneficial, especially for a fledgling program that was still in development and had yet to cultivate a reputation within the field of legal education. Dean Van Hecke sought support from luminaries such as M. Hugh Thompson and Meredith M. Hugh, both respected and successful African American attorneys in Durham and Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, an educator and founder of the Palmer Memorial Institute preparatory school.

The recruitment and marketing efforts of Dean Maurice Van Hecke proved to be successful. The law school enrolled its first student, Robert Bond and soon thereafter enrolled four additional students, bringing its total enrollment to five by the start of fall semester in 1940. Throughout his tenure, the Dean continued writing letters to promote the law school and build relationships necessary for growth and expansion. Although resources were scarce and technology was not advanced by today’s standards, Dean Van Hecke proved that an effective marketing strategy could be achieved with determination, ingenuity and consistency.

*The letters featured in this article are located in the law library. These letters and many other documents will soon be available for viewing in the law library’s digital repository.