Randy Chapman Celebrates Thirty Years at the Legal Center - January 2008 - Bar News Highlight

• Publication year: 2008
• Pages: 13

37 Colo.Law. 13 Colorado Lawyer 2008.

2008, January, Pg. 13. Randy Chapman Celebrates Thirty Years at The Legal Center - January 2008 - Bar News Highlight

The Colorado Lawyer
January 2008
Vol. 37, No. 1 [Page 13]

In and Around the Bar
Bar News Highlight
Randy Chapman Celebrates Thirty Years at The Legal Center
by Mary Anne Harvey

Bar News Highlights may comprise reports of recent activities and special events around the Bar; stories that deal with lawyer activities outside the practice of law; or short profiles of estimable individuals. Consider creating a Bar News Highlight to share print or digital photos of a recent important event; to highlight extraordinary experiences; or to describe notable milestones by local bars, specialty bars, or legal organizations. Send Bar News Highlight queries or material to leonamartinez@cobar.org.

Mary Anne Harvey has been Executive Director of The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People since 1980. Her expertise is in nonprofit organizational development. She is a past president and board member of the National Disability Rights Network and currently serves as secretary of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Nonprofit Association - (303) 722-0300, ext. 215; maharvey@thelegalcenter.org.

A version of this article printed in Mainstream(fn1) (Fall 2007). Reprinted by permission.

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After Randy Chapman graduated from law school at the University of Texas at Austin, he came to The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People (The Legal Center) in August 1977 as a VISTA volunteer. At the time, The Legal Center had just been designated by Governor Dick Lamm as Colorado's Protection and Advocacy System. Recent historic changes in federal law promised new opportunities for people with disabilities. The Colorado Board of Education was debating whether to accept federal funds and implement the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.(fn2) The U.S Department of Health, Education, and Welfare had just issued regulations implementing § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibiting disability discrimination in federally funded programs.(fn3) However, the new laws still needed to be implemented; the conditions in Colorado's institutions were deplorable; and children and adults with disabilities were being denied access to services, employment, and independent living

Randy found the opportunity for...