Alumni Remarks

It is my honor to offer congratulations to the North Carolina Central University School of Law on 80 years of service to the community, the nation and the world. You have trained countless numbers of advocates for the people in the field of law. Our legal thinking and legal writing was honed in your classrooms and we left your doors with the knowledge and skills to make an immediate impact in our respective communities. Thank you! May you continue to bless and train young legal minds for many more years to come.

Congratulations to North Carolina Central University School of Law on educating generations of lawyers – so many that have stood up for justice. As a student, I was constantly reminded of the school’s history as I reviewed the black and white photographs in the lobby of the first African-American law students enrolled in the school. Today, as a lawyer and State Senator, I carry the legacy of the law school’s history. And, I know a new generation of lawyers will do the same over the next 80 years.

Judge Henderson 1999 Senator Jay Chaudhuri

Congratulations on 80 continuous years of educating the nations lawyers. I was so fortunate to enter NCCU Law School just as the doors opened widely for women to enter and thus position us to make great contributions in every area of society at large. So that now our graduates shape policy, champion social justice and educate the future generations in the foundation of our country, the rule of law. My legal education allowed me to enter solo private practice for 30 years. Although I have retired, I encourage all alumni to continue to support our Law School with our resources which were made possible by the education received from The School of Law, NCCU.

Frances Dyer 1976

The Foundation for My Legal and Political Career

I came to NCCU School of Law straight from completing four years at The University of Virginia in 1982. I was an only child who had just graduated from a predominantly white institution with 2% black population and I had helped establish the undergraduate chapter of the NAACP. I came to NCCU to experience an HBCU. I left in 1985 a more mature and wiser woman with a greater appreciation of diversity and the law! My professors, including but not limited to Smith, Williams, Joyner, and my Deans, pushed me out of my comfort zones to higher levels of performance both academically and in the legal field. The rigorous pursuit of excellence fostered in me from NCCU School of Law became the foundation for my legal and political career, culminating with 27 years as the elected Commonwealth Attorney ( District Attorney) for Petersburg, Va, retiring in 2017 as the senior female Commonwealth Attorney in Virginia and the senior black female District Attorney in the United States! More importantly, this wonderful school was the wind beneath my wings and gave me the encouragement to enter into the field of politics and serving people as the elected chief prosecutor! My administration was not about convictions but about justice and improving the lives of the citizens in my jurisdiction. I would like to think I have carried the legacy of social justice emulated by NCCU School of Law to my small city in Virginia. Cassandra Stroud Conover 1985