Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Aug. 22, 1985, edition 1 / Page 19
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Beirimlhiolz takes pride nim lesaD services woA By KAREN YOUNGBLOOD Staff Writer If there's one thing you learn from talking to Dorothy Bernholz, direc tor of Student Legal Services, it's that she's proud of her job. I just attended a conference on the West Coast, and they gave me a plaque," Bernholz said. It's in recognition for my helping found the Student Legal Services Section of the National Legal Aid and Defenders Organization. There were more than 4,500 lawyers there. It was a very good feeling." Bernholz, called Dottie by her friends, has been director of the SLS since it opened in 1976. She is largely, if not entirely, responsible for developing the program it has become. That's another reason she's proud. "I'm real proud of our program. It's fun to be involved in something that hasn't been done before," she said. People might wonder why she works as hard as she does. Unlike lawyers in the Chapel Hill commun ity, Bernholz has a set salary. And being responsible for the legal needs of a large number of students who seek help from SLS is not easy, either. "I like the one-on-one with stu dents," Bernholz said. "It keeps me young. I have children who are now college-aged and it helps me under stand them. It forces me to con stantly be researching issues. I like being constantly legally stimulated." Bernholz graduated from N.C. Central University Law School in 1975. She did her undergraduate work at UNC, where she graduated in 1963. "The gap was spent sending my husband to law school and having his babies," she explained. "That's the way it was done back then." Her "babies" are grown now. Her daughter is a senior at Boston College with her sights set on law school. Her son is away at prep school in New England. "I have more time now," Bernholz said. "If they (her children) were here, they'd say I was an absentee mother." Bernholz's husband is a criminal lawyer with an active practice. Having a two-lawyer family can make life interesting, Bernholz said. "We never know what to expect. It's a very unusual life. One night we came home to find the SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) evacuating our house. It was going to be fire bombed or something like that." Although her job as director of SLS pays little compared to a private practice, Bernholz said she would consider only a few other offered positions. "I would consider an appointment to the bench, but I have to be realistic. I like this job. We (SLS) are always lobbying for more money. But I understand the restraints of the student activity fees. I like the worth of the job," she said. Students who come in contact with Student Legal Service seem to appreciate her services as well. "The feedback we get is very positive," Bernholz said. "We have a competition in the office to see who gets the most flowers. Dave (Kirk man, SLS staff attorney,) does, and that's because he's the most handsome." Kirkman disagreed. "It's because I kick tail in court," he said. Ignoring him, Bernholz con tinued. "My husband says 'My clients don't send me flowers.' I tell him, 'That's because you charge them an arm and a leg.' " Bernholz said she would like to see SLS expand even more. "I'd like to see the SLS funding problem solved so it's funded as well as the Student Health Service," she said. "SHS doesn't have to go every year to beg for money." For now, though, she is content to solve students' legal problems, no matter how strange. "WeVe had students want court orders to protect gerbils," she said. "It runs the full gambit of society. We never know what to expect." The Daily Tar Heel Thursday. August 22. 135SSC IKoBes fioir hH&cks aire ckmgmg? Remwick says By DENISE MOULTRIE Staff Writer Hayden B. Renwick came to the University in 1969 as director of undergraduate admissions with one purpose: to increase black enrollment. Today his goals have changed and so have the students. "When I came to the University, there were fewer than 75 black students enrolled," Renwick said. "When I left admissions four years later, there were 800." The change in Renwick's job title from director of admissions to associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences changed his job description as well. Instead of recruiting blacks, his job was to retain them. Renwick's first assignment as asso ciate dean was to ensure retention of at least 90 percent of entering black freshmen and graduation of 60 percent, he said. "By 1978 we had achieved the objective of retaining the 90 percent but by 1980, things began to change. "I began to detect a different mind set in black students. Today they really believe that everything is equal and they are truly accepted by white society," he said. In contrast to the 1978 figure of 90 BSEV3 percent retention, the number of black freshmen remaining at UNC after their first year dropped to 80 percent, Renwick said. Graduation rates over a period of four to five years dropped to about 50 percent. Renwick called these figures fright ening and attributed some of the problems that black students encounter to the lack of communication between faculty and students. "The only way to have a mutual understanding between the two groups is to have more frequent dialogue." There have been instances when "black student leaders were told one thing, but it turned out to be totally different. The best example is the Upendo situation," he said. "Another example is the proposed Black Cultural center. Black student leaders have been led by administrators to believe that this will be a tremendous operation that will include a director, staff and adequate space for exhibits," he said. "I don't think that's the case at all. Black student leaders need to start confronting these individuals and exposing them for what they truly are." But Renwick added that he was not involved directly with the student faculty relationship. "The only time I'm from page 1C involved with this is when students afc me to interpret what the faculty has said. My primary role with black students is to retain them and to see that black graduate successfully from Carolina. "We provide excellent supportive services through my office, and I hope (freshmen) will take advantage of them," he said. "It will help reduce the failure rate after the freshmen year. Academics should be top priority. But, unfortunately for some it's not." Renwick said black students today at UNC were very different from those 10 years ago. "The biggest difference is that students here then performed much better academically." Another difference is that students now "want to be accepted by the white community vs. improving their own identity and culture." Renwick said that black media coverage presenting black college graduates as Buppies, or black upwardly mobile professionals, did not bother him. "You must take that with a grain of salt because blacks are still behind and they have a long way to go," he said. "There are a few show-cased blacks to make things look good, but the masses of blacks are still struggling," he said. He said he was not bothered V. iwSU nit ii . i- a1 li ml I Hayden B. Renwick by the small number of black t recog nized for their talents, 'but thene few blacks put on display forget the mxwes they leave behind." In earlier years "a lot of blacks were w illing to sacrifice to make things better for the future, but there is very little of that now." he said. "This is a tragic, big mistake that black students are making." AiUlERICAN GftWCER SOCIETY' news magazine, is another avenue open to freshmen. The Ink editors encourage students to submit poetry, prose, editorials and letters to the editor. Other planned BSM activities this year include a Black Arts Festival sponsored during Black History Month (February), and various speakers will visit throughout the year. The BSM also will present a black campus leadership panel, made up of Anderson and other black student leaders, including Todd Mason and Wyatt Closs of the Campus Governing Council. The panel will discuss options open to black students for campus involvement. Black freshmen are encouraged to be active in the BSM, Anderson said, and, as in the past, the BSM will have a Freshman Class Committee. "This gives freshmen the opportunity to become involved with the BSM," Anderson said. "Since the Central Committee (administrative body) of the BSM is already filled, the FCC lets freshmen become more involved with the work of the Central Committee. ft 1 ii ii n it ii M II it M 0 M fl M M fl t.t C1 I ii I n ft -p j M Q u R I torn Q mmm bus ii rrrn inn rrrrn i rn n rrr : X tS ' : fl Pf i ,r 2 p til-. :r -j hK-i 7n$fS 22? J iliyiHlltip o C3 i, Chapel Hill is at the heart of , North Carolina's future. And Mill Creek is at the very heart of Chapel Hill. Condominiums with Carolina style and panache within a short walk of campus and Franklin Street. With all the amenities, including tennis courts and a pool. They'll always be in demand. A very prudent purchase, pre-sale prices available. 9 A We're investing in Chapel Hill. How about you? From the developers of Chancellor Square. For more information: The Development Group, Inc. of Chapel Hill, Ft) Box 782, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, (919)942-7475 ML ill; H r 1 u "The FCC is also responsible for planning the Freshman Committee Talent Show, which utilizes a variety of talent from throughout the Univer sity," Anderson said. 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Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Aug. 22, 1985, edition 1
19
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