The President of Penn State University says plans to change the focus of study at the Dickinson School of Law are not finalized. Dr. Rodney Erickson is said to have been in favor of a proposal to lessen law school opportunities at the Carlisle campus.
Dickinson School of Law was an independent law school since its creation in 1834. In 2000, a merger with Penn State University was completed. Five years later a dispute over whether to move Dickinson Law to Penn State’s main campus ruffled feathers.
Today there is a duel campus law school with classes in Carlisle and State College.
The most recent controversial proposal is to require all first year students to attend classes at the main campus. They can choose where they’ll go for the second and third years, a move many feel will result in the closing of the Carlisle campus. Some hoped with the dismissal of Graham Spanier and the selection of a new university president, the proposal might be forgotten, but apparently not.
Penn State University President Rodney Erickson said, “We will continue in discussions and looking at what the best options are. This is a very different kind of environment for legal education and legal services that we’re in now. We want to make sure we come out of this with a Carlisle campus as strong as we can.”
Opposition has been publicly expressed by Carlisle Borough Council, Cumberland County Commissioners, Rep. Steven Bloom and Gov. Tom Corbett. Many law school alums are not happy with the idea.
In exchange for $25 million dollars in state funds to renovate the Carlisle campus, Penn State agreed the school would offer a full three-year juris doctorate law degree program here through June, 2025. To change that focus would require approval of the Cumberland County Redevelopment Authority.
Dickinson School of Law was an independent law school since its creation in 1834. In 2000, a merger with Penn State University was completed. Five years later a dispute over whether to move Dickinson Law to Penn State’s main campus ruffled feathers.
Today there is a duel campus law school with classes in Carlisle and State College.
The most recent controversial proposal is to require all first year students to attend classes at the main campus. They can choose where they’ll go for the second and third years, a move many feel will result in the closing of the Carlisle campus. Some hoped with the dismissal of Graham Spanier and the selection of a new university president, the proposal might be forgotten, but apparently not.
Penn State University President Rodney Erickson said, “We will continue in discussions and looking at what the best options are. This is a very different kind of environment for legal education and legal services that we’re in now. We want to make sure we come out of this with a Carlisle campus as strong as we can.”
Opposition has been publicly expressed by Carlisle Borough Council, Cumberland County Commissioners, Rep. Steven Bloom and Gov. Tom Corbett. Many law school alums are not happy with the idea.
In exchange for $25 million dollars in state funds to renovate the Carlisle campus, Penn State agreed the school would offer a full three-year juris doctorate law degree program here through June, 2025. To change that focus would require approval of the Cumberland County Redevelopment Authority.