ALUMNI NEWS

At Home at Mizzou

By Ashlee Erwin

Attaining a degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia was not possible for Dick Gregory. As a young African-American graduate of Sumner High School in St. Louis, Gregory would have been denied admission in 1952 due to segregation.

Forty-five years later, the question for high school graduates Yasmin Newberry Cline and Keisha I. Patrick wasn’t a matter of acceptance to Mizzou as African-Americans; it was whether Mizzou was the right choice for them.

On May 15, all three St. Louis natives walked across a stage to receive Mizzou degrees. Gregory, an acclaimed comedian and civil rights activist, received an honorary doctorate of humane letters after addressing the graduates at MU’s honors convocation, an event he would have been barred from attending decades earlier.

“But now, I’ve been invited home,” he said to the 821 graduates. “Let me say thanks to you for bringing me home.”

At the School of Law’s commencement that day, Cline and Patrick both received law degrees while saying good-bye to the institution they had called home for the past seven years. It was an occasion for both women to pause and reflect upon their achievements and Mizzou’s progress in the past 50 years.

“When I walked across that stage, the feeling was indescribable,” Cline said. “The end of the journey meant so much to me, and I was finally able to exhale.”

Cline began her journey in 1997 when she enrolled in the University with a George C. Brooks Scholarship that covered the cost of tuition, room and board. She decided to major in broadcast journalism, eventually becoming a paid student news producer at KOMU-TV, the only network-affiliated television newsroom in the country designed as a teaching facility for students. She also was heavily involved in LEAD Mizzou, an organization that facilitates campus and community leadership activities.

Feeling the need to specialize after earning her bachelor’s degree in journalism, Cline began law school in 2001. She found her calling in her third year when she became a certified legal representative for the University’s Family Violence Clinic.

“My best experience at MU was being able to get practical experience at KOMU and the legal clinic,” Cline said. “Those are the types of experiences where students can be true leaders by taking ownership of their own educational journeys.”

Cline took full advantage of those opportunities at Mizzou with a determination she learned from her parents, Maurice and Brenda Newberry, founders of the Newberry Group, Inc., a successful information technology and systems consulting company based in St. Charles, Mo.

Cline said her goal is to make sure her parents’ sacrifices don’t go to waste, and those who know her think she has already reached this goal.

“Organization, maturity, and a can-do attitude have made Yasmin successful in her academic pursuits and life in general,” said Mary Beck, professor of law and director of the Family Violence Clinic.

Whereas Cline is a first-generation Mizzou success—although husband Harvey Cline and sister Cherie Newberry also attend MU—fellow graduate Keisha Patrick followed in her family’s footsteps.

“Education is pushed in my family,” Patrick said. “The question is not are you going to college; it’s what college are you going to.”

For Patrick and seven members of her family, the choice has been Mizzou. She is the third member of her family to graduate from the law school, an achievement that began when she came to MU as a Brooks Scholar and decided to major in news editorial journalism. As a reporter for the Columbia Missourian, she was the only undergraduate chosen to cover the 1999 papal visit to St. Louis, and she covered the 2000 Bush/Gore presidential debates.

In addition to her journalistic endeavors, Patrick served as president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, treasurer of the National Association of Black Journalists and as a member of the United Ambassadors student recruitment team.

With superb writing skills from her undergraduate work, she entered law school in 2001 and eventually landed a legal externship with Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronnie L. White.

“All of Keisha’s training, whether obtained at MU or from other life experiences, has prepared her to master the demanding practice of law and balance that practice with her other personal goals,” White said.

Both Patrick and Cline say the practical experience they gained at MU will serve them well. Patrick will begin her career as a clerk for Chief Judge Carol E. Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis, while Cline is weighing local options while her husband finishes his doctorate in engineering at Mizzou.

While their future careers may lead them away from Columbia, both women know that they will always have a home at Mizzou, and they encourage others to do the same.

“I love MU, and I’ve gotten an excellent education there,” Patrick said. “But I’m always pushing for more black students to make a presence there.”

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Last Update: August 7, 2008