Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 10880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 01/31/00
      Contact:                           Scott P Nunez 92

"LEAN ON ME" PRINCIPAL TO SPEAK AT SOUTHEASTERN FEB 16 
     HAMMOND   Joe Clark principal, disciplinarian, and subject of the movie "Lean On
Me," will speak at Southeastern Louisiana University Wednesday, February 16 at 7p.m. in the
Student Union Theater.
     Clark is a featured speaker during the university's celebration of Black History Month.
Admission is free and open to the public.  
     Named one of the nation's ten "Principals of Leadership" just two years after taking over
the reigns at Eastside High School in New Jersey, Clark is on a crusade on behalf of the
American youth.  He is best known as the man who transformed that crime infested, drug-ridden,
inner-city high school into a model institution of higher learning.
     Clark, who holds a master's degree from Seton Hall in administration supervision, sees
education as a mission and as everyone's responsibility. He explains, "If there is no discipline, no
learning can take place. Without discipline, there is anarchy. Good citizenship demands attention
to responsibilities as well as rights." As the director of the Essex County Youth House, a juvenile
detention center in New Jersey, his message is expressed in tough terms. Clark believes that
everyday, pride in self and school should be reinforced. Every day the value of academics must
be demonstrated.
     The author of  "Laying Down the Law," Clark is an acclaimed speaker on the country's
lecture circuit where he shares his beliefs, strategies and success stories with teachers, students
and community members.

                                                              -SLU-
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