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“GEORGIA’S BEST WEEKLY”
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Week of April 28,2010 - May 4,2010 • Vol. 38 No. 10 • www.savannahtribune.com • 912-233-6128 • Fax: 912-233-6140
Thomas to
Speak at
SSU
Graduation
Justice Clarence Thomas
Savannah State University
will hold its 176th commence
ment ceremony at 10 a.m.,
Saturday, May 8, 2010, in Tiger
Arena. Approximately 300 stu
dents will receive undergraduate
and graduate degrees. Clarence
Thomas, Associate Justice of the
U. S. Supreme Court, will be the
guest speaker.
Bom in the Pinpoint com
munity near Savannah, Ga.,
Thomas briefly attended
Conception Seminary College in
Missouri and received a
Bachelor of Arts degree, cum
laude, from Holy Cross College
in 1971. Following graduation
from Yale Law School in 1974,
Thomas was admitted to practice
law in Missouri, and served as
an assistant attorney general of
the state from 1974 until 1977;
an attorney with the Monsanto
Company, 1977-1979; and leg
islative assistant to former Sen.
John Danforth, 1979-1981.
After serving one year as
Assistant Secretary for Civil
Rights, U.S. Department of
Education, Thomas became
chairman of the U.S. Equal
Opportunity Commission in
1982, a position he held until
1990 when he became a judge
on the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit. Pres. George
H. W. Bush nominated him as an
Associate Justice of the Supreme
Court and he took his seat Oct.
23, 1991.
Also during the ceremony,
an SSU undergraduate will be
presented with the President’s
Second Mile Award, given each
year during May commence
ment. The award recognizes
stellar leadership on campus and
in the Savannah community.
Sears Reportedly on Short List for
U.S. Supreme Court
Leah Ward Sears
Former Georgia
Supreme Court Chief
Justice Leah Ward Sears is
reported to be on President
Obama's short list of nomi
nees to be the next Supreme
Court justice. Sears retired
from her Georgia court
position last year and now
practices law for a private
firm. The vacancy came
about with the announce
ment by Justice John Paul
Stevens that he would be
retiring from the U.S.
Supreme Court.
The White House has
said it plans to name a nom
inee by early next month.
She was the first
African American woman
to serve as chief justice in a
U.S. court and, with her
nomination by Georgia
Gov. Zell Miller in 1992,
became the first woman and
the youngest person to ever
sit on the Georgia Supreme
Court.
Sears was raised in
Savannah, and educated in
the Chatham County school
system, graduating from
Beach High School. Sears
received a Bachelor of
Science from Cornell
University in 1976, her Juris
Doctor from Emory
University School of Law in
1980, and a Master of Laws
from the University of
Virginia School of Law in
1995.
Sears was appointed
by then-Mayor Andrew
Young to the City of Atlanta
Traffic Court in 1985. She
then became a Superior
Court judge in 1988 (the
first African-American
woman to hold that position
in the state). She became a
state Supreme Court justice
in 1992.
Although historically a
non-partisan election, the
Georgia Republican Party
and Georgia Christian
Coalition targeted Sears for
defeat in 2004. She defeated
her challenger with 62 per
cent of the vote.
Sears currently lives in
Atlanta, Georgia with her
husband Haskell Ward, for
mer Deputy Mayor of New
York City under Mayor Ed
Koch. She is the mother of
Addison Sears-Collins and
Brennan Sears-Collins.
Others said to be con
sidered include Deval
Patrick, current governor of
Massachusetts, Janet
Napolitano, current
Homeland Security
Director, Harold Hongju
Koh, Legal Adviser to the
State Department, Elena
Kagan, U.S. Solicitor
General, Jennifer
Granholm, current
Governor of Michigan and
Merrick B. Garland, current
Judge on the U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia.
Paula Deen Academy of Culinary Arts
at Woodville-Tompkins
Deen is pictured with students and staff from the school, along with her husband Michael Groover
On Tuesday, April 27,
the Savannah-Chatham
County Public School System
held a formal ribbon cutting
ceremony at the Woodville-
Tompkins Career Institute for
the new Paula Deen Academy
of Culinary Arts.
The curriculum for
the program is based on state
guidelines for advanced
coursework, standards of the
American Culinary
Federation and the recom
mendations of Paula Deen.
Students will earn culinary
arts certification in addition to
the high school diploma.
Paula Deen began con
sidering the partnership in
December 2009 when she
visited the culinary arts pro
gram at Woodville-Tompkins
and clearly expressed an
interest in establishing a part
nership.
"I am very proud to
being associated with this
wonderful program," com
mented Paula Deen. "It is crit
ical that we all do our part to
help our children meet their
potential. With that said, we
need to provide them with the
tools to succeed in this
world."
Superintendent Dr.
Thomas Lockamy states,
“This has been my dream
since arriving in the district,
as I believe that all children
can be gifted/talented in some
area of their life.”
An advisory board will
provide ongoing support and
review of the program to
ensure high industry perform
ance standards are met. In
addition to Paula Deen and
her sons, Jamie and Bobby,
the board will be comprised
of chefs and other representa
tives from the hospitality
industry as well as post sec
ondary partners and commu
nity members. Derrick
Muhammad serves as CTAE
Director at the school, and the
chefs are Chef Hanne, and
Chef Martin.
The school will be open
to 10th-12th grade students
enrolled in the SCCPSS sys
tem that express an interest in
the program. Students may
inquire by contacting their
high school guidance coun
selor.
Small-
Ton ey
Named
Interim
City
Manager
Rochelle Small-Toney
By Tina A. Brown
For The Savannah Tribune
When Rochelle Small-
Toney steps into the role next
week as Savannah's Interim
City Manager, she'll bring with
her a wealth of knowledge
about how to operate the
Hostess City.
For nearly three years,
Small-Toney, the assistant city
manager, has worked in the
areas of economic develop
ment, poverty reduction,
affordable housing, code
enforcement, neighborhood
revitalization and job develop
ment.
Her appointment as inter
im city manager is unique in
the sense that “there's a rela
tively small number of African-
American women in the field”,
according to Michele Frisby,
spokeswoman of the
International City/County
Management Association. “As
of September 2009, a survey of
that group showed that nation
wide, 95.1 percent of local gov
ernment leaders are Caucasian
males”, Frisby said.
Louie Chapman Jr., the
city manager in Bloomfield,
Conn., who is African-
American, said Small-Toney
has earned a reputation of being
a “competent” manager.
“It gives you an opportu
nity to have close relationships
with your bosses," Chapman
said. “Depending upon how
well you do, you may be
rewarded with the appoint
ment."
See Small-Toney, pg.3
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