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Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Law - More on: Night law classes may end at the University of Louisville
Updating yesterday's entry, today the Louisville Courier Journal has an editorial on the "Night school's value." Some quotes:
Closing the University of Louisville law school's part-time evening division has been proposed again. This alternative is revived by the faculty every decade or so.It came up, for instance, in 1975. Advocates back then said that interest in the night school was flagging, and redirecting resources to the day division would improve quality.
Very similar arguments are being proposed three decades later, only this time, the law school itself -- renamed for Justice Louis D. Brandeis -- is a far different place.
In 1975, it faced the loss of accreditation and was placed on probation. Its buildings were small, shabby and ill-suited for storage, much less training future members of the bar.
Despite all that, the faculty had the wisdom to reject the idea, realizing that U of L's night school offered a kind of opportunity that a day-only program could not.
Non-traditional students had a place where they could launch a new and better career. Young parents, full-time professionals in other fields, veterans and others found the night program suited their needs.
And in a city the size of Louisville, such a program made all kinds of sense for civic and educational reasons.
It still does. * * *
With three law schools, Kentucky can ill afford to eliminate the very sort of program that provides special opportunities for students who might otherwise be unable to attend.
The fact is that U of L has nothing to be ashamed of in its night school alumni, who include leading members of the bar, the bench, business and public life.
For many of them, day studies would not have been an option.
The night division should be exploited as an asset, not abandoned as an unwanted and unsupportable stepchild.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 4, 2006 01:52 PM
Posted to General Law Related