RobertNesbitt04252010

=HUSSON WITHDRAWS PROPOSED LAW SCHOOL=

By: Robert Nesbitt robbie_nesbitt@hotmail.com

BANGOR** -The news that Husson University would no longer try to form a law school at its Bangor Campus was received by students last week. This choice was made by the board of trustees five weeks after the Maine Supreme Judicial Court turned down the university’s request to allow graduate students to take the Maine bar exam. This was the second turn down by the Maine Court. In a press release by Husson President, Robert Clark, he expressed that he was disappointed with the decision but appreciated the efforts by those involved. “We are grateful to the Supreme Judicial Court for its careful review of our petition, and, we have decided at this time not to pursue a law school,” said Clark. The Court’s decision was made based on the lack of tenured professors at Husson University. The American Bar Association requires law schools to have a tenure track for its professors. According to the Bangor Daily News, Husson did away with tenure about 15 years ago. A graduate student from the University of Maine, Emily Carpenter, had considered attending Husson when it first began the process of forming its proposed law school. According to Carpenter those she spoke with at Husson had made it sound as if a future law school was a definite thing, and the right place for her to get her law degree. “I’m glad I chose not to go there,” said Carpenter. “Who knows how far behind I would have gotten in credits.” Husson had proposed enrolling between 30 and 50 students a year. According to Husson spokeswoman Julie Green, $300,000 was spent in pursuit of a law school. Katey Enman is a pre-law major at Husson, and would have appreciated a law school for graduate students. “The Maine law library is at Husson,” said Enman.“ If the Law School had gotten approved, it would have brought a lot more resources to my program.” Enman knows of some of her classmates who were hopeful that the law school would be passed by the Supreme Judicial Court so that they would be able to save money on tuition. Tuition was set at $18,000 a year, which is the same as in-state tuition at the Maine School of Law in Portland for this academic year. In a press release made last Monday, Husson expressed that it would continue to offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in criminal justice and undergraduate degrees in paralegal studies through the School of Business.
 * [[image:3025014930_0bae3c361c.jpg width="250" height="250" caption="Photo Courtesy of flickr.com"]]