Brent L. Wilson ’76

Partial Transcript: I went to undergraduate school at Moorhouse College in Atlanta and was an early admission student to Columbia Law School. But my girlfriend was in Atlanta, I had just been elected President of my fraternity, and I didn't want to give up my Senior year at Moorhouse. I decided not to accept. After finishing Moorhouse, I applied to various law schools, got into Columbia but they did not offer any money. I was an Earl Warren Legal Training Grantee from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. That money was set aside for southern students attending southern law schools. With that plus a scholarship from the Univ. of Georgia, and my Georgia residency, Law School cost about $200. That's where I started Law School. After my first year I married my high school sweetheart. She got a job in Rochester and I applied to Law Schools in the area. Buffalo had a tuition-waiver program for minority students who could demonstrate that they'd been educationally deprived because they had attended segregated school systems in the South. Thus, I enrolled at UB. Compared with the University of Georgia, which had no minority professors and few minority student, the Buffalo experience was much more accepting, with a few minority professors and a larger student minority class size.

Segment Synopsis: I went to undergraduate school at Moorhouse College in Atlanta and was an early admission student to Columbia Law School. But my girlfriend was in Atlanta, I had just been elected President of my fraternity, and I didn't want to give up my Senior year at Moorhouse. I decided not to accept. After finishing Moorhouse, I applied to various law schools, got into Columbia but they did not offer any money. I was an Earl Warren Legal Training Grantee from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. That money was set aside for southern students attending southern law schools. With that plus a scholarship from the Univ. of Georgia, and my Georgia residency, Law School cost about $200. That's where I started Law School. After my first year I married my high school sweetheart. She got a job in Rochester and I applied to Law Schools in the area. Buffalo had a tuition-waiver program for minority students who could demonstrate that they'd been educationally deprived because they had attended segregated school systems in the South. Thus, I enrolled at UB. Compared with the University of Georgia, which had no minority professors and few minority student, the Buffalo experience was much more accepting, with a few minority professors and a larger student minority class size.

Keywords: Choosing UB Law School; Ethnicity / Diversity; Tuition; UB Recruitment; Undergraduate Education

Subjects: EDUCATION; PERSONAL ISSUES

Partial Transcript: I thought I'd be a general practitioner, as most people thought. There were no lawyers in the family, so my reference were television lawyers. I saw myself as a Perry Mason, going back to New Orleans. In Law School I took a Labor Law course from Prof. David Kochery. I enjoyed the course and liked that it involved working with people. I then interned with the NLRB in the summer of my second year of Law School and after graduating, I went to work for the NLRB, assigned to the Atlanta Regional office. Three years later I entered private practice. There were no African Americans in private practice representing management or unions in Atlanta at that time. Through the efforts of the Regional Director of the NLRB, Curtiss Mack (the first Regional Director in the history of the NLRB), and through my own efforts, I was able to interview with some of the traditional labor employment firms in Atlanta and got into private practice.

Segment Synopsis: I thought I'd be a general practitioner, as most people thought. There were no lawyers in the family, so my reference were television lawyers. I saw myself as a Perry Mason, going back to New Orleans. In Law School I took a Labor Law course from Prof. David Kochery. I enjoyed the course and liked that it involved working with people. I then interned with the NLRB in the summer of my second year of Law School and after graduating, I went to work for the NLRB, assigned to the Atlanta Regional office. Three years later I entered private practice. There were no African Americans in private practice representing management or unions in Atlanta at that time. Through the efforts of the Regional Director of the NLRB, Curtiss Mack (the first Regional Director in the history of the NLRB), and through my own efforts, I was able to interview with some of the traditional labor employment firms in Atlanta and got into private practice.

Keywords: Career / Early; Ethnicity / Diversity; Kochery, David; Law Courses

Subjects: CAREER: LEGAL; PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE; UB LAW AS STUDENT

Partial Transcript: Law School impacted my wife negatively at first because she had a career path but we decided to follow my career which meant staying in Atlanta, and my going into private practice, instead of moving to other locations around the country to follow hers. But it has helped in terms of what I've been able to do for both of our families, most recently in helping them to recover from Hurricane Katrina. I was completely lost! When I came in 1976-'77 that was the first building on the Amherst Campus. Coming back 30 years later and seeing the campus completely developed, it's a remarkable change.

Segment Synopsis: Law School impacted my wife negatively at first because she had a career path but we decided to follow my career which meant staying in Atlanta, and my going into private practice, instead of moving to other locations around the country to follow hers. But it has helped in terms of what I've been able to do for both of our families, most recently in helping them to recover from Hurricane Katrina. I was completely lost! When I came in 1976-'77 that was the first building on the Amherst Campus. Coming back 30 years later and seeing the campus completely developed, it's a remarkable change.

Keywords: Amherst Campus; Career / Early; Career / Professional Experience; Family; Practice

Subjects: CAREER: LEGAL; PERSONAL ISSUES; UB LAW AS STUDENT