Howard and Academia
Dr. John Clay Smith began teaching shortly after working in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He began working for the EEOC in the 1970s, while living in Washington. D.C. He was appointed as the chair of the EEOC in 1981, under President Reagan. His experience at the EEOC primed him for a career in academia and education. He was expected to work closely with shareholders, speak with policymakers, moderate civil rights debates and manage federal agencies through periods of policy change (Nebraska Archive). The skills that he learned in this role at the EEOC would prove to be fundamental to the successful academic career he would later embark on at the Howard University School of Law.
The Howard University School of Law was undergoing a series of accredation challenges right before Dr. Smith was named the dean of the law school. One news article from 1986 reports that the law school’s bar passage rates were “embarassing”, with a mere 28 percent of the school’s graduates passing the D.C. bar exam the first time that they took it (Washington Post). Administrators at Howard referred to the low passage rate as the “Achilles Heel” of their institution (Washington Post). The low pass rate persisted for a number of years, with just “13 percent of Howard graduates passing the state bar in 1981 through 1985” (Washington Post). This figure is drastically lower than the all-state bar pass rate in D.C., which was 65 percent. A self-study submitted to the American Bar Association in 1981 reveals that the low rates “have captured the time and attention of the faculty constantly since 1973” (Washington post).
Smith was appointed as dean of the law school in 1986. He assumed this position at the end of the spring semester that year, on May 14. His leadership transformed the school’s trajectory. With the help of his background at the EEOC, he applied his experience and expertise in trade and business relations to turn the tide of the school. After Smith’s appointment, the school garnered a significant amount of funds that they did not have prior. He brought the connections that he made as chairman to his newly appointed position as the school’s dean. His deanship lasted from 1986 to 1988, for two years. Under this period, the law school received much needed financial support and enjoyed an enhanced reputation in the legal community (Borch, 2019).
Scholarships:
The Foundation of the Federal Bar Association recognizes Smith’s leadership and awards scholarships in his name today. The “Dr. J. Clay Smith Diversity in the Legal Profession Scholarship” is titled after his namesake and promotes diversity in the legal profession. The scholarship encourages students from racial and ethnic minorities to apply and pursue a legal education. The scholarship is funded by the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association, a nonprofit that funds scholarships and supports legal education. The scholarship has been awared for eight years, since 2018. It awards up to $5,000 in funds to recipients.
Foundation of the Federal Bar Association Scholarship Application: https://www.foundationofthefba.org/dr-j-clay-smith-jr-scholarship-for-the-advancement-of-the-legal-profession-application/.
