Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Foster:' Fron Page 1 cumulative GPR falls four points below .a 2.0 at the end of his first year is dismissed. Foster defends the special rule by explaining the school is "in no way diluting our academic standards because no one is going to graduate under dual standards." But he said, "We have to accept the fact that it may take them (black students) a little longer." The USC Law School is the only one in the state, so Foster said he and the faculty thought making this special ruling was "something we should do because of the need for quality black lawyers in South Carolina." He said there is an addi tional obligation because the law school at South Carolina State col lege has been discontinued. Foster said, "We have always tried to encourage blacks to attend, but have been somewhat discour aged by the results, that is, the flunk out rate." In the eight years since 1965 the school has graduated no more than one black a year, according to Foster, though "several times that number have been admitted." John R. Harper II, a black Colum bia attorney, remembers the exact number of blacks who have graduated from the law school in recent years. "It is my studied opinion that,no more than one black can raduate from the law school in any given year," Harper said, though he had named two students who finished in your face in root. specialty at b Try thisg80#a Ia cart4 Eat brNasa Grading FOSTER 1967. He said he had seen more than a dozen blacks enroll when he was a law student. "This is not the beginning of dif ficulties that black students have had there," he said. "But it is inter esting to note that a number of them have gone on to large law schools and come back and passed the bar exam. The problem goes beyond the law school for blacks. A suit against the State Board of Bar Examiners is now being brought by a group of citizens who have completed law school but failed the bar exam. "We think the bar exam as presently administered is discriminatory," a member of the group said. "It has not been validated to show that it has any relation to one's perfor mance in the law. It has a detrimen rea,kfat t a . youvitsi r r tu trsmtme tm Q'.. i 7 . i-. ns.2 t4d, ,. v qlot Affecl HARRIFORD tal effect on a disproportionate number of blacks." According to this member of the group, who wished to be treated anonymously because he intends to retake the exam, 90 per cent of the whites who take it pass while only 10-15 per cent of the blacks do. He said this has resulted in more than 2000 white lawyers in the state and less than 50 black ones. He agrees that, "We write differ ently and think differently from whites" and he blames this on "separ'ate and unequal schools way before 1954." None of the plaintiff's in this case are USC graduates, Foster emphasized. "It is important that our graduates, few as they've been, have all passed the bar and as far as I can observe have been anasset uer head be the clai ly nd nourishmnent my up your GPR. Ing Service. ted By Pr MCMILLIAN to the profession." However the bar is in the distant future for only a few of the law school's black freshmen. At least four of them plan to leave or have left, according to USC's Charles McMillian, whose Minority Student Affairs Committee investigated the freshmen's situation and made a recommendation for action before the law school made the special ruling. Willie Harriford, dean for special programs and a member of McMil lian's committee, said he under stands that low success was pre dicted but the students didn't know it. "The feeling I got was that the students were not aware of their predicament," he said. "They were kind of lulled into a sense of false security." STUL .SPEC) Thsoffer good ON ts-You must have yoi for these special buys American 7 Pin Tubular Locks American Self-Coiling Cable ..................... Master 4' Heavy Chains ....., Master 6' Heavy Chains ... Elite Lights ..... Book Pads ...... Pletcher Carriers 27 x 1%/" Michelin Tires... Raleigh Record 10 Speed Bikes ................. Rej Jaques Anquetil 10 Sp. Bikes ................ Reg -Prices Good Only Bicycle ( Colui 7 16 lvardena StI Comia, 2& -ejudices' He said some people here still seem to be waiting to find out what happens to the funds CLEO pro vided. McMillian said those who with drew are looking for jobs and are not sure whether funds will be avail able next year. The law school ruling also provided for the stu dents to withdraw and return next year as new freshmen. Dean Foster said he is not sure yet, but since CLEO was to provide funds for three years the program will probably just cut off its supply after the third year. He said the school expected too much from CLEO. "We probably should have done more in the way of tutorial programs," he said. Glenn Manning, a second year law student who worked with CLEO, said, "I thought it was pretty suc cessful. If there is a gripe it would probably be that there should have been more testing." He said poor communication between black students and white teachers resulting from cultural differences played a large part in the problem. Manning said there's no way of proving professors are discriminat ory and Harper said, "When I was going to school there I suspected that certain professors dis criminated against me because of my race, although I cannot difinitely prove it." He said a gap in the grading sys tem "allows the professor to utilize his discretion and therefore the (See LAW, Page 9) OENT LY to USC Studen ir USC I.D. to qualify Reg. *7"-Now $5" Reg. *S"-Now $400 ..... Reg. 14"-Now ...... Reg. *2"-Now $200 ...... Reg. *8"-Now $600 ...... Reg. *S"--Now $35 ....Reg. *S"-Now $400 .*110"-A Few Left 5899 S139"-4 Left At $11500 I'hru March 10th ienter of rnbia reet (ast Gree,u) .C. 29205 1 -282 1