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The Afro-American, April 1, 2017 - April 7, 2017
Missing Girls Continued from B1
called on federal authorities to help find the city’s “We are doubling down and enforcing policies missing girls on March 21. In a letter addressed to that better publicize when our youth go missing, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Federal Bureau invests more resources to address why youth of Investigation Director James Comey, the CBC go missing, and provides more police to help asked for an investigation into the disappearances. investigate cases of missing youth,” Kevin Harris, “It is essential that the Department of Justice and a spokesperson for the mayor, told the AFRO the FBI use all of the tools at their disposal to March 27. help local officials investigate these events, and The initiatives include a boost in officer return these children to their parents as quickly as staffing within the Children and Family Services possible,” the letter said. Division, broadening the information provided CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond (D-La.) and on police social accounts and webpages for Students from DCPS gathered at the White House Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) signed off missing persons, and providing grant funding to and marched throughout D.C., visiting the Trump on the letter together, stating that authorities often community non profits to assist runaway youth hotel and DOJ to protest for the city’s missing girls. assume missing children of color are runaways and Photo by Rob Roberts and their parents. not victims of abduction. Harris said the number of missing children and Delinquency Prevention to collect and publish national Brown said that the missing individuals are reports is declining and the department has a case demographic data on missing youngsters. Norton’s office runaways who leave home voluntarily, “We have no indication closure rate of 95 percent, but there is still progress to be made. did not respond for comment on her legislation in time for that these individuals are being kidnapped or snatched off “If we want to make more significant headway in lowering the publication. the street,” she said. “Our concern is to find them as soon as numbers of children reported missing, we have to deal with Also, in response to the news of the District’s missing possible, and ensure their safety.” Most missing persons are the underlying causes for why they left home in the first place, teenagers, Mayor Muriel Bowser launched six initiatives on located within 24 to 48 hours, Brown added. he said. “These initiatives will help us to focus our energies March 24 to help solve missing children cases and address the Norton also introduced legislation on March 24 to require not just on quickly locating our missing youth, but hopefully issues that are causing youth to leave their homes. the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice ensuring they don’t go missing again.”
D.C. Fair
Continued from B1 By 2020, 76 percent of all jobs in the District will require post-secondary education, according to the Georgetown University Center on Education. That statistic, DeJesus indicated, is driving the fair. A survey DeJesus conducted with about 400 District residents found 80 percent of them had some college credit, but had not finish their degrees. Most of those adults were D.C. tuition assistance grantees who failed to complete the application process for the grants, she said. For Reginald Black, it’s
personal. He has served on the Adult College Completion Initiative since its inception,
member told him 65,000 adults living in the District don’t have high school
“We just want our adult learners to be empowered and to be knowledgeable.” – Tiffany DeJesus joining when he was a college/career navigator at Academy of Hope Public Adult Charter School. Two years ago, Black pushed the D.C. City Council to fund adult learners, and was floored when he a city council
diplomas. “I said to myself, ‘Wow, it’s crazy to me that there are so many people living in the nation’s capital who don’t have a high school diploma,’ and so the question becomes ‘How do you support
yourself?’” Black asked. Since then, Black, now a recruiter at Trinity Washington University’s graduate school of business, has made it his priority to support the fair. “It doesn’t matter what I do in my occupation,” he said. “I’ll be there to make sure the fair goes off with a bang.” According to the American Community Survey, 100,268 District residents’ highest level of educational attainment is a high school diploma or equivalent. Adults can run into several obstacles that keep them from completing their degree,
DeJesus said. Issues range from the inability to afford school, to work-life balance issues, to working longer hours so they can keep living in the District as it gentrifies. Affordability is a key issue, she said. Sometimes adults register to attend forprofit universities thinking they’re a “quick fix” but those institutions may not have been accredited — meaning their credits won’t transfer — and are often expensive. Some adults pursue an education and take out loans they are unable to pay back. If students are unable to finish paying for their education, the
learning institution typically holds the transcript or refuses to transfer credits to another school, DeJesus said. “It’s more than just being in debt with federal student aid,” DeJesus said. “It’s more so having the balance so they’re able to pay.” Many adult learners need flexibility in programming, such as night or weekend courses, or the ability to take one-to-two classes at a time so they can work and/ or look after their children. Supporting these learners now will strengthen the local economy and workforce in the future, DeJesus said.
UDC
Continued from B1 announced as UDC received an “A-plus” grade and Top 10 in PreLaw Magazine’s 2017 Diversity rankings. In that same PreLaw Magazine issue, UDC had the number one spot in “Schools with the Most Community Service Hours per Student.” UDC has a robust legal services program that has generated more than 100,000 hours annually translating into roughly 360 hours a year per student. In addition, PreLaw Magazine ranked UDC #8 for “Best Schools for Public Interest” rankings and the Princeton Review ranked the school #2 nationally in the “Best Environment for Minority Students”, “Most Diverse Faculty” and “Most Chosen by Older Students.” The school’s student body is 41 percent Black and about 60 percent female, according to PreLaw Magazine. The UDC Law School is the youngest in the District, with its founding traced to the legendary Antioch School of Law that specialized in teaching its students public interest law. Antioch was founded in 1972 and closed in 1986 due to lack of funds. In 1986, the D.C. Council created the District of Columbia School of Law and retained the mission and resources of Antioch. The new D.C. School of Law was granted provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association in 1991 and in 1996; the D.C. Council merged the law school with the University of the District of Columbia. President Bill Clinton signed legislation designating the school the “David A. Clarke” moniker in honor of the late D.C. Council chairman and in 2005
“The national recognition is emblematic of the school’s commitment and the importance of diversifying the practice of law.” – Jonathan Newton it became fully accredited by the ABA. UDC Law School offers full and part-time, evening study as well as the juris doctorate and Master of Laws program. The school has nine operating clinics with an elder law clinic, supported by D.C. Council member Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4), in the works. Jonathan Newton is the president of the Student Bar Association and a third-year law student looking forward to graduating in May. Newton said UDC law’s recognition is deserved. “The national recognition is emblematic of the school’s commitment and the importance of diversifying the practice of law,” Newton told the AFRO. “UDC’s classrooms are filled with students from different racial, ethnic and sexual orientations. While UDC’s classrooms are diverse, however, the practice of law remains a largely White male driven industry.” Newton said that UDC’s strong emphasis on clinical legal
Girls of Color
be a deciding factor.” Broderick told the AFRO that her team of law professors should get the credit for the school’s success. “I am the cheerleader for the school and for the professors here,” she said. “We are hell-bent on making social justice warriors who are excellent and compassionate.” UDC does have its challenges such as the recent bar passage rate of 47.4 percent as opposed to Georgetown Law Center’s 85.7 percent passage. The school is working on building its fundraising base and has the support of noted malpractice super lawyer Jack Olender, who funds two clinical law professors. “The world has changed,” Broderick said. “Law firms are outsourcing legal work and a lot of legal work is done online so firms don’t do as much hiring as they used to. This is where we have the advantage because you learn about the actual practice of law here.”
Church
Continued from B1
the program based on the feedback we receive from the young women in our schools.” Some District residents and leaders expressed concerns in 2015 and 2016 that while District boys of color were being educated through services by the Empowering Males of Color (EMOC) initiative that is designed to increase academic and life skills, there was nothing for young women. D.C. Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) engaged D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine to write an opinion on the all-boys initiative that includes the all-male public high school, the Ron Brown Preparatory High School in Deanwood in Northeast Washington. Racine issued an opinion later that said the city’s EMOC was legally sound.
education prepares its students for the daily practice of law. “The experience places our students at an advantage by exposing them to the pragmatic functions of being a lawyer sooner than most other law students,” he said. If an employer is looking for a practiceready graduate, the amount of clinical experience exposure should
Bowser is well-acquainted with female-based education, she is a graduate of Catholic, all-girls Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg, Md. and Chatham University in Pittsburgh when it was an allwomen’s college. According to the mayor’s
launching Reign Innovation grants to improve academic and social outcomes for young women of color. “Through Reign, we will be able to help more of our young women of color grow into the leaders we know they can be,” Wilson said. “This
“Through Reign, we will be able to help more of our young women of color grow into the leaders we know they can be.” – Antwan Wilson press release, there are three pillars of Reign: 1) creating spaces for young women of color to build community, confidence, and leadership skills, 2) ensuring that schools are empowering places for young women of color, 3)
is a critical socio-emotional investment across health, wellness and identity for our young women of color, which will allow us to better support our students as we work to close the achievement gap.” Wilson said feedback from
young women across the city drove the Reign initiative. “Young women told us that they want to support one another, develop leadership skills that help them have careers in politics, afterschool programs and activities that help them build their selfconfidence,” the chancellor said. “Basically, these young women want schools to be places where they feel valued.” Wilson said that Reign will cost approximately $1 million. It was noted that there was no proposal to create an all-girls public school and Bowser said that was done by design.”Again, this is not a one-size-fits-all situation,” the mayor said. “We want to deliver services the way the children need them and we want to address the needs of girls.”
Continued from B1 needed in the community. Reading from New Testament, she talked about how John the Baptist sent disciples to Jesus with a simple question: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” “Are you the one!” Mills asked the Masons during a service where she challenged them to come from their temples and lodges to be more active in the community.” Following the Divine service a few of the Mason’s came into the fellowship where they mingled with the young adults who were singing and nibbling on chips and salsa. The Rev. Matthew Wilke, who like Mills, is a minister in the United Methodist Church, talked about the vision of Bridge and the reality of people worshiping together regardless of color. “Bridge is in the midst of an historic African-American church, we are a ministry of the church. We are reaching out to a gentrified neighborhood and also to all types of people living in D.C.,” Wilke said. “It is not about one particular culture but it is all about coming together at the foot of the cross, which is about what Heaven really looks like.”
Bowser also has plenty of support in her girls’ initiative. “Reign is fantastic,” AtLarge D.C. State Board of
Education member Ashley Carter told the AFRO. “This initiative will improve the learning of young women.”