Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 28, 1992 TAG: 9202280272
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`LEAN ON ME' EDUCATOR DRILLS LESSON
Without his legendary baseball bat and bullhorn, dressed casually in a cozy sweater and slacks, Joe Clark bore little resemblance Thursday to the man who gained fame for his no-nonsense tactics at Eastside High School in Paterson, N.J.Until he opened his mouth.
Clark's voice boomed, bounced out of every corner of a recital hall at Roanoke College, causing his student audience to wince slightly in their chairs.
But dig beneath his coarse manner and polysyllabic words and one finds messages, however radical:
"Any principal who cannot control drug utilization in their school should be horse-whipped and run out.
"Teaching is a very arduous profession. Unless we do something quickly, teachers are going to school with bulletproof vests.
"Take government out of education. Once the government comes in they take over and begin to put demands on you.
"School boards are dumb by and large. They are short-sighted, parochial-minded and out for themselves politically.
"Kids are graduating from school thinking Plato was Mickey Mouse's dog and Aristotle was Jackie Kennedy's second husband."
Clark has taken to the lecture circuit since resigning as Eastside's controversial principal in 1989. His resignation came in the wake of an investigation by the School Board into what it deemed Clark's reckless and insubordinate use of discipline.
Thursday, Clark brought his message to Roanoke College in Salem.
Clark said jokingly that one reason he left public education was because he was "tired of being poor."
Clark said he is not the same man he was when he wielded a bullhorn and Louisville Slugger in the halls of Eastside High, handing out suspensions by the hundreds and chaining school exits shut.
Arguably, though, he is no less dramatic.
He swept from one side of the raised platform to the other, voicing opinions on everything from the plight of the black male to his displeasure with Black History Month.
But Clark made clear that he was not out to garner support. He said he didn't care if people agreed with him - or even liked him.
"When you leave here you're going to say either, `I love Joe Clark,' or, `I hate his guts,' " he said. "Most of you are going to love me because you're wise."
Those who don't are "misguided souls and I will ask the Lord to apply a healing balm to your posterior."
Clark, a former Army drill instructor, has been riding a wave of publicity that started with his suspension of 300 of Eastside's 3,300 predominantly inner-city black and Hispanic students in his first week as principal.
His tenure ended after the 1988 release of the Warner Brothers film "Lean on Me." He has been on the cover of Time magazine and appeared on television talk shows and newscasts, including "60 Minutes."
Clark's message now seems less focused on his years at Eastside and more on broader issues, particularly those affecting youth. Thursday, he urged them not to sit back and blame their plight on others but to "get off your rusty dusty and do things for yourself."
"If you end up nothing, blame only yourself," he said.