Raleigh law students will work for supreme courts in Rwanda, Ghana and Namibia
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- Campbell Law sends eight students to clerk at supreme courts in Rwanda, Ghana, Namibia.
- Program builds on dean J. Rich Leonard’s 30-year judicial reform work across Africa.
- Student Defense urges NC to extend SNAP certification from six months to 12 months.
Hello Higher Stakes subscribers! Welcome to this week’s edition of your higher education newsletter. I’m Jane Winik Sartwell. Here’s what I’ve been looking at this week.
From Raleigh to Rwanda
Campbell Law School’s dean, J. Rich Leonard, has been to Africa upwards of 80 times. This summer, he’s bringing along eight students. The students will serve as judicial law clerks in the supreme courts of Rwanda, Ghana and Namibia. The new eight-week program is a reflection of Leonard’s 30-year-long passion for judicial reform in African nations.
It all started in 1994, when Leonard got a fateful phone call.
“When I was a federal judge, I got a call from the State Department, a cold call saying, ‘Would you like to go to Zambia as a consultant to their judiciary?’ And I said, ‘Sure, where’s Zambia?’ That just started a love affair,” Leonard said.
Since then, he’s worked all over the continent serving as a consultant to judicial systems in different countries. In February, he met with chief justices in Rwanda, Ghana, and Namibia to set up this student-oriented program.
“It was a sort of logical next step for me to try to take what I already have and expand it for the benefit of my students,” he said. He believes this sort of program is unique nationally.
Annie Bright’s match day story
Match Day at the UNC School of Medicine, when medical students find out where they’ll do their residencies, was in March. Among those students was Annie Bright, who got her top choice: UNC Health pediatrics.
Bright came to the United States from South Korea when she was 8. She didn’t know English, yet made it through third grade in a new country and a new school.
“I did feel I was given a second chance at life to come to the United States,” Bright said. “And so I just had a really strong sense of service, and making sure that I had a positive impact in my community. I didn’t think of anything else I could do to accomplish that, other than being in medicine and helping people. I always knew that I was going to go into medicine, even at a young age.”
She joined the Navy’s hospital corpsman program, and served as a surgical tech and combat medic overseas in Italy. After finishing her enlistment, she enrolled at Campbell University to study medicine. Then, Bright went on to the UNC School of Medicine, where she’ll stay on at the hospital to care for pediatric patients. She has always gravitated toward pediatrics, she said.
“Kids in the hospital feel that same loss of control I felt when I first came to the U.S,” Bright said. “I see myself in these kids, scared, confused, and trying to be brave.”
“It’s almost like the universe has already placed all these paths for me, and just handed me this, and said: ‘This is exactly where you’re supposed to be.’”
SNAP struggles for college students
Thirty percent of students across North Carolina colleges experience food insecurity, according to a recent study coauthored by Appalachian State University public health professor Adam Hege.
An organization called Student Defense says there’s a change North Carolina can make to alleviate this problem: change the SNAP, or food stamps, default certification period from 6 months to 12 for all applicants. That would mean students would have to re-certify less often.
The federal government directs states to assign “the longest certification period possible,” according to Student Defense, and a majority of states use 12-month periods. Student Defense is asking North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services to do the same.
“To maintain SNAP/FNS benefits without interruption, these North Carolinians must meet requirements — including an interview — at the close of each 6-month certification period,” the organization’s memo reads. “This process can be time consuming and difficult, particularly for people with many demands on their time like students eligible for SNAP/FNS. Most exits from the program occur due to missed recertification deadlines, even where the evidence suggests that households remain eligible.”
NC DHHS did not immediately respond for comment.
Headlines you don’t want to miss
- Raleigh professor accused of false expenses for hemp research. How much he owes by me
- You may soon be able to graduate from a public university in NC in just 3 years by me
- UNC student newspaper’s April Fools’ satire sparks outrage on campus by me
- Duke students urge NC lawmakers to support immigrant workers, families by me
- UNC is cutting $90 million from its budget over the next three years. Here’s how by me
- NC astronaut Christina Koch is set to fly to the moon. 6 things to know about her by me
- UNC men’s basketball head coaching search closing in on hire. Here’s the target. by Shelby Swanson
What I’m reading
- Duke ROTC students told not to wear uniforms in wake of Old Dominion shooting by Mia Taubenblat at The Duke Chronicle
- From the Iran war to campus antisemitism investigations: 5 key higher ed updates from March by Annie Eilers and Mia Taubenblat at The Duke Chronicle
- Trump Once Again Pushes Steep Education, Research Cuts by Katherine Knott and Ryan Quinn at Inside Higher Ed
- President Trump signs order intended to stabilize college sports, threatens lost federal funding by Mark Long and Eddie Pells at AP
Thank you for reading! If you liked this newsletter, consider forwarding it to a friend.
— Jane Winik Sartwell
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This story was originally published April 7, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
