Popular and controversial educator Joe Clark will be the keynote speaker for the sixth annual Cornell Tradition convocation on the Cornell University campus, Feb. 23.

Best known as the bullhorn-toting, baseball-bat-wielding principal of the rough Eastside High School in Patterson, N.J., from 1983 to 1990, Clark was the subject of the hit movie Lean on Me , starring Morgan Freeman. A former Army drill instructor with a bachelor's from William Paterson College and a master's in administration supervision and doctorate equivalence from Seton Hall University, Clark sees education as a mission. After only two years of his hard-nosed leadership at Eastside High, the formerly raucous institution was declared a model school by New Jersey's governor, and Clark himself was named one of the nation's 10 "Principals of Leadership" in 1986.

The event will take place at 7 p.m. in Call Alumni Auditorium of Kennedy Hall. It is free and open to the public, but tickets are necessary and can be obtained at the Cornell Public Service Center, 200 Barnes Hall, or by contacting the Cornell Tradition office, 107 Day Hall, at 255-8505. Clark's talk is co-sponsored by Teach for America, the Cornell Public Service Center and the Cornell University Program Board.

Although his tactics were not universally applauded, Clark won national acclaim for his achievements with a Time magazine cover story, two "60 Minutes" profiles and appearances on television news and talk shows. President Reagan named him a model educator and offered him a White House post as a policy adviser (which Clark turned down). After seven years as principal at Eastside, Clark resigned and became a noted speaker on the country's lecture circuit, nominated in the 1996 for the National Association of Campus Activities Speaker of the Year Award. He began his latest crusade on behalf of America's youth in August 1995, when he was appointed director of the Essex County Youth House, a juvenile detention center in Newark, N.J. Through his book, Laying Down the Law , his speeches, his consulting and his activities at the Essex County Youth House, Clark shares his beliefs, strategies and success stories with teachers, school boards, parents, businessmen and students around the country. His primary message is: "Every day, pride in self and school must be reinforced. Every day, the value of academics must be demonstrated."

The Cornell Tradition is an alumni-endowed fellowship program at Cornell that recognizes and rewards outstanding undergraduates. It was established in 1982 with an anonymous gift of $7 million and awards 600 fellowships each year to students who demonstrate significant work experience, campus and/or community service and academic achievement. The annual Cornell Tradition convocation is held to celebrate the achievements of the program's fellows, and each year a speaker is invited to address a value of the program.

The Public Service Center is hosting a reception in Clark's honor prior to the evening convocation. Local school administrators, representatives from local nonprofit human service agencies and members of the Cornell community have been invited to the reception to meet informally with Clark.

For more information on the Cornell Tradition and Clark's visit, contact the Cornell Tradition office at 255-8595 or cornelltradition@cornell.edu.