Monday, March 23, 1998

Ceremony marks Dickinson merger

By PATRICIA K. COLE
Collegian Staff Writer

CARLISLE -- No white dress was worn, no flowers were carried and no one said "I do."

But about 800 people gathered in the Allison United Methodist Church in Carlisle Saturday to celebrate the marriage of the University and The Dickinson School of Law with great pomp and circumstance.

As the bells of the church chimed 11 times, a trumpet signaled the beginning of the convocation and the procession of trustees, deans and faculty members from both institutions cloaked in academic robes and sashes.

The Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State UniversityLaw

The procession also included U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who received an honorary degree from the school; Gov. Tom Ridge, who graduated from Dickinson in 1972; Dickinson Dean Peter Glenn who described the affiliation as strength added to strength in the opening remarks and University President Graham Spanier, who said the marriage was a perfect one.

The ceremony marked the affiliation that was announced in January 1997 and went into effect in July. Ridge, who was called a Penn State alumnus by Spanier, noted that talks about a possible affiliation began more than 20 years ago.

"It's an association that . . . has been a long, long time coming," he said. Representatives from the faculty and the alumni associations spoke about the benefits of bringing the two groups together.

"We see it as a jewel that has been polished . . . whose place has finally been found,"said R. Burke McLemore, president of the General Alumni Association of Dickinson.