Kurt Lidell Schmoke (born December 1, 1949) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 47th mayor of
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, from 1987 to 1999, the first
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
to be elected to the post. He is the current president of the
University of Baltimore
The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt's schools and colleges provide education in business, law, public affairs, and the applied arts and sc ...
and former dean of the
Howard University School of Law
Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...
.
Early years
Schmoke was born and raised in Baltimore to Murray Schmoke, a civilian chemist for the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, and Irene B. Reid, a social worker.
He attended the public schools of Baltimore.
High school
Schmoke attended the
Baltimore City College
Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the thir ...
, the third oldest high school in the United States, and graduated in 1967.
Schmoke excelled in both football and lacrosse and he was a star quarterback.
As the varsity quarterback, he led the
City Knights to two undefeated seasons and successive Maryland Scholastic Association A-conference championships in 1965 and 1966.
As a student, Schmoke was a member of the Baltimore City College "A-course", a college preparatory curriculum that required him to take Latin and other advanced studies not offered to the average Baltimore high school student. Schmoke was elected president of the school's student government in his senior year but also worked in the Baltimore community with disadvantaged youth. Compulsory community service had not yet been mandated for Baltimore high school students, yet he tutored and mentored young men from the inner city as a member of the
Lancers Boys Club.
College and graduate school
Schmoke entered
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
in the fall of 1967.
He played quarterback on the freshman team that year. Schmoke played in one of college football's most famous games in 1968. Harvard and Yale battled to a
29-29 tie in a battle of unbeaten teams. While at Yale, Schmoke and his classmates started a day care center on campus for the children of the university's janitors and cafeteria workers who lived in New Haven. The center was named after
Calvin Hill
Calvin G. Hill (born January 2, 1947) is a retired American football player. He played running back in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons. Hill played for the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and Cleveland Browns. He also p ...
, a former Yale football star who became a star running back for the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
, and it still stands today.
Schmoke has been acknowledged as the undergraduate student leader who helped quell the possibility of riot on the Yale campus in the wake of the
New Haven Black Panther trials
In 1969-1971 there was a series of criminal prosecutions in New Haven, Connecticut, against various members and associates of the Black Panther Party. The charges ranged from criminal conspiracy to first-degree murder. All charges stemmed from t ...
in the spring of 1970. As New Haven filled with radical protesters, Yale students demanded the suspension of classes. A bitterly divided faculty met to discuss strategy, and invited a student leader to address the gathering. Schmoke, who was Secretary of the Class of 1971 and a leader of the Black Student Alliance at Yale, was selected to represent the students.
[ He spoke only a few sentences: "The students on this campus are confused, they're frightened. They don't know what to think. You are older than we are, and are more experienced. We want guidance from you, moral leadership. On behalf of my fellow students, I beg you to give it to us." This moment is credited with helping to dispel the growing tensions: the university voted to bend its rules, making classes "voluntarily optional" to the end of the term, and despite small outbreaks of violence, no campus-wide unrest resulted.
After graduating from Yale with a degree in history in 1971, Schmoke studied as a ]Rhodes Scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
at Oxford University, and graduated from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
in 1976.
Schmoke was selected with five other distinguished former collegiate student-athletes for a Silver Anniversary Award by the NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
in 1996.
Early career
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Schmoke joined the Baltimore law firm of Piper and Marbury
DLA Piper is a multinational law firm with offices in over 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2021, it had a total revenue of US$3.47 billion, an average profit per equity partner of ...
. In 1977, he was selected to be part of the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
Domestic Policy Staff during the Carter Administration
Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican President ...
to work in the Department of Transportation. After one year working in President Carter's administration, Schmoke returned to Baltimore as the Assistant United States Attorney, a position he held from 1978 to 1981.
Elected office
In 1982, Schmoke ran for his first elected office. He challenged incumbent Baltimore City State's Attorney William A. Swisher in a citywide contest. Schmoke ran an energetic, grassroots and race-neutral campaign and upset Swisher in a landslide.
On November 3, 1987, he was elected Elected may refer to:
* "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973
* ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008
*The Elected, an American indie rock band
See also
*Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...
mayor of Baltimore. As mayor, he became known for his opposition to the "War on Drugs
The war on drugs is a Globalization, global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of prohibition of drugs, drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the Unite ...
" and his stance in favor of drug decriminalization
Drug liberalization is a drug policy process of decriminalizing or legalizing the use or sale of Prohibition of drugs, prohibited drugs. Variations of drug liberalization include: drug legalization, drug re-legalization and drug decriminalization ...
. He made his position on drug decriminalization known during a speech at the U.S. Conference of Mayors
The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded i ...
. Schmoke rewrote his speech the night before the conference, adding a harsh criticism of drug criminalization without showing his staff or the organizers of the conference. After newspapers published accounts of the speech, Schmoke faced wide-spread, bi-partisan condemnation. Baltimore’s two congressmen came out against Schmoke's idea of decriminalization, as well as Reagan administration officials. One of his most notable critics was Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel
Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the Ho ...
, who called Schmoke "the most dangerous man in America."
Schmoke initiated programs in housing, education, public health and economic development. During his three terms in office Schmoke faced very serious challenges, including poor quality schools, drug addiction, and violent crime. Some of his controversial positions included advocating the decriminalization of drug use and employing Nation of Islam security guards in a housing project. His achievements included improving the environment of low-income housing projects, a needle-exchange program for addicts, keeping the tax rate stable, and attracting the Ravens football team to Baltimore.
In 1992, President George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
awarded him the national Literacy Award for his efforts to promote adult literacy and, in 1994, President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
cited Baltimore's programs to improve public housing and enhance community economic development and named Baltimore one of six cities to receive Empowerment Zone designation. In 1997, Schmoke was a committee member for the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bru ...
. After serving three terms as city mayor, Schmoke opted not to run for reelection in 1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
.
Advocacy of school choice and school vouchers
In 1999, Schmoke delivered some remarks on the subject of school choice and school vouchers at a Manhattan Institute
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is a conservative American think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs, established in Manhattan in 1978 by Ant ...
luncheon in New York. An edited version of a transcript of that speech entitled, "Why School Vouchers Can Help Inner-City Children", is available online and in that brief web page, Schmoke explains why he believes hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
school choice and vouchers will improve the quality of public education for America's youth, particularly inner-city minority children. Schmoke first spoke in support of school choice in a speech at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
in March 1996.
Life after politics
After leaving office in December 1999, Schmoke practiced law at the firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as Hale & Dorr and WilmerHale, is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. It is co-headquartered in Washington, D.C. and Boston. It was formed in 2004 thr ...
in Baltimore. In 2003, Schmoke was appointed the dean of the Howard University School of Law
Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...
in Washington, D.C. In 2004, Schmoke was appointed an honorary fellow of Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
. He is also on the board of Global Rights
Global Rights is an international human rights capacity-building non-governmental organization (NGO). Founded in Washington, D.C., in 1978 with the name International Human Rights Law Group, the organization changed its name to Global Rights: P ...
, and a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
The Alliance World Fellowship is the international governing body of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (The Alliance, also C&MA and CMA). The Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within the Higher Life movement of Christianity ...
. In 2008, Schmoke delivered the keynote lecture, "A New Hundred Years War? The Compelling Need to Reform National Drug Control Policy" for the Edward Bouchet
Edward Alexander Bouchet (September 15, 1852 – October 28, 1918) was an American physicist and educator and was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from any American university, completing his dissertation in physics at Yale University, ...
Conference on Diversity in Graduate Education at Yale University.
He also appeared in two 2004 episodes of the acclaimed HBO series ''The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...
''. The episodes, entitled " Middle Ground" and " Mission Accomplished", featured Schmoke in a bit part as a health commissioner. He acts as an advisor to the fictional mayor after a rogue police major has legalized drugs in a portion of the city. This is a reference to his own feelings on the drug war.
In July 2008, Schmoke became the acting senior vice president for academic affairs at Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
. Schmoke continued as dean of the Howard University School of Law
Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...
. He also taught election law as a seminar class every fall semester to third-year law students.
In January 2009, Schmoke was seen holding an umbrella for Illinois Senate designee Roland Burris
Roland Wallace Burris (born August 3, 1937) is an American politician and attorney who is a former United States Senator from the state of Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party.
In 1978, Burris was the first African American elected to ...
during an outdoor press conference concerning Burris' seating controversy. Schmoke was part of the legal team advising Burris during the controversy. Schmoke was appointed vice president and general counsel of Howard University in July 2012. On May 14, 2014, the University of Baltimore announced that Schmoke would become its new president. On September 8, 2017, President Schmoke made the decision to have Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( ; ' Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021. DeVos is known for her support for s ...
as the Fall 2017 commencement speaker.
References
External links
*
Membership
at the Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmoke, Kurt
1949 births
Living people
African-American mayors in Maryland
American Rhodes Scholars
University of Baltimore
Harvard Law School alumni
Howard University faculty
Deans of law schools in the United States
Mayors of Baltimore
Yale College alumni
Baltimore City College alumni
State's attorneys in Maryland
United States Department of Justice lawyers
Maryland Democrats
American evangelicals
Members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American lawyers
20th-century American politicians
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr people
African-American academics
American academic administrators
African-American educators
African-American lawyers