NCCU Law celebrated recipients of the Julian T. Pierce Scholarship, which supports the education of outstanding law students. During a special ceremony, Dean Patricia Timmons-Goodson along with scholarship winners: Sheila Rodriguez (3L)
and Aminah Ghaffar (2L), were presented the check for $28,000 to further their legal studies.
Proceeds were raised at the annual Julian T. Pierce Memorial Art Dinner this summer and will benefit the scholarship named in his honor. Pierce, an alumnus, class of 1976, was an attorney and civil rights activist in Robeson County. In 1978, he became the founding director of Lumbee River Legal Services, where he helped low-income people gain access to health and legal services. He was instrumental in merging Robeson County’s school system and helped build the Robeson County Health Care Corporation.
Pierce was a fervent advocate for education, equality and justice and more than three decades after his death, his legacy continues to live on through this scholarship. He was weeks away from becoming the first Native American Superior Court Judge in Robeson County when he was found fatally shot in his home. He won the election posthumously by more than 2,000 votes.