University may merge with law school

If the University Board of Trustees concurs with The Dickinson School of Law's Board of Trustees, the law school will soon complete a merger with the University, re-named The Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University.

Board of Trustees members will consider the merger proposal with the Carlisle law school at their meeting Friday at Nittany Lion Inn, and if approved, the merger will be complete July 1.

"We anticipate that (the Trustees) will support this at the meeting on Friday," said University President Graham Spanier.

The two schools have considered merging for almost three decades, according to Peter G. Glenn, dean of the law school. With the merger, the law school will remain in Carlisle.

In addition, the combination of the two schools will have no affect on the tuition of University students, Spanier said. But it will help keep tuition down at Dickinson.

The merger was discussed seriously among administrators from the institutions for about six months, Spanier said, and Dickinson School of Law was the only school he considered in the discussions.

Although the law school was previously affiliated with Dickinson College, it later claimed independent status.

Dickinson has had various collaborative educational efforts with the University, Spanier said. One such effort is the cooperative degree program between the two institutions which gives students the opportunity to earn a Juris Doctor degree from Dickinson and a master's degree in public administration from Penn State Harrisburg.

Many University graduates have also attended the law school, Spanier said, such as U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and Board of Trustees President Jesse Arnelle.

Spanier, among others, said he does not think building another law school from scratch is necessary or beneficial. There are now seven law schools in Pennsylvania.

"Pennsylvania and the nation don't need another law school," Spanier said. "Our law schools already produce enough lawyers for America."

Jon Lafaver, adjunct professor at Dickinson School of Law and also a practicing lawyer in Harrisburg agreed with Spanier, and said most people think there are too many lawyers.

"Law schools seem to be generating more law students than there are jobs for them," Lafaver said. "I've known of law school graduates who have ended up, a year or two later, in Florida, serving pizza."

Edward Keynes, professor of political science at the University, said he thinks the relationship between the institutions would be positive.

"Dickinson is certainly an established program -- it's a reputable school," he said, adding that the University will have added access to state legislators because many graduated from Dickinson.

University alumnus Pat Conway also said that the merger will be an exciting addition to Penn State. Conway, a 1987 political science graduate and president of the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, said he would have considered attending a law school affiliated with Penn State.

"I think there will be a lot of people taking advantage of (the program)," he said.

Collegian Staff Writer Kelly Ruoff contributed to this article.