The NCCU School of Law Evening Program: Learning the Law By Moonlight Since 1981

For nearly half of its life, the School of Law has operated our part-time Evening Program. Since opening in January 1981, over 700 particularly industrious adult learners have balanced work, family, and personal obligations with the dauntingly ambitious goal of earning a JD at the same time. I have been fortunate to share the journey with these students since July 1994 as the Assistant Dean for the Evening Program. That’s 39 years for the Evening and 26 for me with it.

Prior to becoming the assistant dean for the program, four others served in the position. Acie Ward was the inaugural dean of the program, helping to establish Dean Harry Groves’s vision for a school that drew from RTP, government, law office, and university employees. Dean Ward later joined the faculty of the School of Business where she served for decades. Next was Assistant Dean Suzanne Leary, who helped initiate the rotation system of classes, which was a useful tool for student and administrative planning. It permitted the program to be run efficiently and predictably by offering most required classes in alternate years. Assistant Dean Mark Morris ‘81 returned from Harvard Law with his LLM and next led the program; he passed the reins to classmate Patti Bynum (then Solari), who served from 1990 until 1994. Both served the school as longtime professors after leaving the EP. After Assistant Dean (Solari) Bynum is where I come in.

Dean Bynum and I had a truly confused conversation that eventually resulted in my joining the Evening Program as assistant dean. One of the early tasks for the Assistant Dean for Evening was the scholarly task of locking the doors to the lobby, which is where the office for Evening Program was located. I was passing through the lobby; Dean Solari asked me while she was locking up, “How would you like to be dean for the evening?” I thought she meant THAT evening, and was essentially asking if I could stay and watch that the lobby was locked at closing. I replied “I can’t, my parents are coming for dinner tonight.” This was truly baffling to her, and in a few minutes we sorted it out and I threw my hat in the ring for the job, where it has remained ever since.

BY ADRIENNE LEA MEDDOCK ‘91 Assistant Dean for Evening

The Evening Program has expanded and contracted over the years, at one time enrolling over 120 students in the four year program. Most years, the program totals in the 70 to 80 student range. The program has made a significant impact on the practice, especially in North Carolina: our alumni hold elective office at the state and local level, as well as serving in the courthouse as clerks and judges. Many have started companies or moved to the boards of the companies where they worked while in school. In short, the program is unique in the region and has allowed our graduates to achieve their dreams of becoming lawyers while maintaining their daytime employment. From retail workers to corporate executives, keeping the day job was a condition precedent to their legal studies. I am so pleased that Dean Groves had the vision to see how needed such a program would be in our region.

It has been such a privilege to work with the motivated and focused members of the Evening Program this quarter-decade plus. While all successful law students rely on these traits, our Evening students maintain and demonstrate them over the long haul of four years and three summers. While we will change and grow along with innovations in teaching, there remains a need for legal education geared to working persons. Here’s to at least 39 more years!