By Melanie Ellis
There may come a time in our lives where we feel it’s hard to take an extra step forward to better ourselves because something may be holding us back. Whether it’d be because we’re too scared, we don’t have the confidence, or because we may feel discouraged, it’s hard to put forth our best efforts to better ourselves. Employers often look at an applicant’s background to see if they have any felonies, and they may get turned down for the job if they do. However, when placed in situations like these, Tri-C has a new way of helping people start over: Tri-C’s Legal Clinics.
The Legal Clinics initially started at Cincinnati State, and Tri-C chose to do the same thing to further help out students. The purpose of Tri-C’s Legal Clinics is to help students get a fresh start by eliminating barriers that lead to their success. It also helps students who may need assistance with the criminal record expungement process or legal advice.
Doajo Hicks, the DeputyGeneral Counselor and Executive Director of the Legal Clinics, discussed what made him want to start these clinics to further students’ success.
“Since we are open enrollment and a higher educational institution, we figured that there was something that we could do to help out the students’ success,” Hicks said. “I worked with other expungement programs through legal aid, and I figured why can’t we all put this service to our students?”
Hicks also stated that so far they have had a good turnout and they have helped many students turn their lives around.
Programs like this are very helpful when it comes to students wanting to further their success. The best part about it is no one is judged once they choose to go to the clinics. The next legal clinics session will be on April 9 and 16 from 9 a.m. to noon, in the ESS 2600 Campus President’s conference room. For more information about the legal clinics, email the Office of Legal Services at legal@tri-c.edu.