Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

In response to your article in the May 10, 2002, issue of Campus Times ["Law school dean resigns; future of school uncertain"], several points need clarification.

No. 1-- The future of the law school is definitely NOT uncertain. It has a bright future, and the support of the University's Board of Trustees has not wavered. According to President Morgan's May 3, 2002 memo to the campus community,"The University's Trustees and the administration remain fully determined to obtain ABA approval. We will continue to commit the resources and effort needed to do so." In addition, the law faculty is fully supportive of the effort, and is working hard to achieve these goals. I understand that some non-law faculty are concerned about the costs, but as you know these funds are loaned from the quasi-endowment so as not to affect the rest of the university.

No. 2-- The statement in the article regarding the need for a "bigger library" and "advanced facilities" sounds as though we currently need to expand further. The fact is that we needed a bigger library and advanced facilities at the time we decided to move to ABA approval, and that is why the decision was made to build a new facility in Ontario. At the time the facilities, including the library, do not need further expansion in the view of our independent consultants. (The library collection itself will grow as a matter of course.)

No. 3 -- Our search facilitator's name is Scott Bice.

Richard McDowell
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs