Spanier: It may be best to cut Dickinson ties

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Spanier: It may be best to cut Dickinson ties
By Anne Danahy adanahy@centredaily.com
MIDDLETOWN Saying the relationship between Penn State and the Dickinson School of Law is not functioning very well, university President Graham Spanier said Tuesday that it might be in the best interest of the two institutions to end their affiliation.

"That is a very difficult situation for the university right now," Spanier said during his remarks to the University Faculty Senate. "It is not a good situation."

The university issued a statement Sept. 17 saying the two institutions were looking into ending their affiliation and creating a partnership between the law school and neighboring Dickinson College, both of which are located in Carlisle.

Spanier said that although the outcome is still not certain, it might become clearer within a few weeks or months.

The law school's board of governors voted Aug. 13 to table a Penn State proposal to open a second law school campus at University Park, with a $60 million price tag, and renovate the Carlisle campus. Instead, the board of governors called for working with the university to improve the Carlisle campus at an estimated cost of $50 million.

That proposal came about after a plan to move the law school to University Park and keep a satellite campus in Carlisle met with strong opposition from the Carlisle community.

University officials had argued that moving the law school to University Park would improve Dickinson's rankings, help it attract top faculty and students, and address a lack of space in Carlisle.

In response to questions from faculty Tuesday, Spanier said the administration believes the proposal to disassociate from the law school would be in the best interests of the law school, its students, the community and Penn State.

Zachary Gates, the law school's student representative, said he was struck by the number of students who go to the Dickinson law school because of its affiliation with Penn State.

He asked Spanier what he should tell an employer interviewing him for a job when he has to spend half the interview explaining what his degree will mean.

Spanier said anyone who graduates with a Penn State diploma will always be a Penn State graduate.

Spanier also said the decisions were not all his to his make, and instead pointed to the law school's board of governors.

"I'm just trying to make some lemonade out of lemons here," Spanier said.

Tuesday's Faculty Senate meeting took place at Penn State Harrisburg. Faculty Senate Chairman Kim Steiner noted that it was the first time it was held at that location and believed to be only the third time the meeting took place outside of University Park.

A shift in power perhaps? Will something new happen? Stay Tuned!

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, October 23, 2004

Dickinson law school board elects chairman
CARLISLE -- The board of governors of The Dickinson School of Law of Penn State elected H. Laddie Montague Jr. chairman at its Oct. 15 meeting. Montague, a 1963 law school graduate, succeeds LeRoy Zimmerman, former Pennsylvania attorney general. Montague is managing principal and shareholder of Berger and Montague P.C., in Philadelphia and chairman of the firm's antitrust department. He has been a supporter of the school, including serving on the law school board since 1994.

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1960. He was named one of the country's top antitrust attorneys for 2003-04 by Chambers USA's American Leading Business Lawyers, according to a law school news release. Montague was co-trial counsel for plaintiffs in the mandatory punitive damage class action in the Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation.

Law school board wary of new idea for merger

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Saturday, October 16, 2004

Law school board wary of new idea for merger ; Dickinson College vows programs to boost ranking
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of Our Carlisle Bureau
Like jilted lovers, some members of The Dickinson School of Law's board of governors say it's too soon to consider a new relationship. Others appeared tempted by the prospect of leaving parent institution Penn State University and merging with next-door neighbor Dickinson College.

"It's entirely likely we would have a beautiful marriage, but we're already married," board member and Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin said.

Eakin and other members said Penn State reneged on its promise to enhance the law school whether or not it relocated to State College.

Board members said they are angry that Penn State President Graham Spanier initiated talks with Dickinson College without consulting the governors board. They have been excluded from negotiations between the college and university, board members said.

Emeritus board member Robert M. Frey, however, urged the others to consider a college merger. ?The law school is languishing now. If it languishes long enough, it will self-destruct,?? he said.

Dickinson College President Bill Durden yesterday presented his vision for a Dickinson/Dickinson affiliation.

He said that when he arrived at the college in 1999, it was drifting and had slipped in national rankings. Since then, it has risen in the rankings, boosted its endowment and added award- winning programs.

He promised similar changes for the law school.

Durden said law students could take advantage of college global learning programs and could earn master's degrees through partnerships with such schools as Johns Hopkins University.

Durden is in discussions with Spanier. He said he expects to know by the end of the year whether the college can acquire the law school without taking on a financial burden.

He said that if the college offers to merge with the law school, it would demand a quick decision.

The law school's future has been in the balance since last November, when Penn State proposed relocating it to State College.

University officials said a State College presence would make the school more competitive and give students new educational opportunities.

But law board members, state and local elected officials and community leaders, including Durden, spoke against a move.

Penn State then suggested keeping a law campus in Carlisle and opening a second in State College.

A condition of the plan was that the board of governors give up its authority over the law school.

The governors board, which doesn't run the school but can veto plans to move it or change its name, voted 22-12 to delay acting on the two-campus plan. Instead, the board voted to support a $50 million renovation of the Carlisle campus.

Spanier said then that Penn State would develop a new vision for the law school. A month later, he said the university was considering ending its partnership.

Like Penn State, Dickinson College would expect the governors board to abandon its authority.

School merger makes sense

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Letters
School merger makes sense
The Patriot-News
I'm writing in response to the article (Sept. 18) about possible merger plans for Dickinson College and Dickinson School of Law. I watched with uncertainty the past year, worrying that the law school would move to State College, taking with it professors, students and business from the Carlisle community.

When Penn State offered to build a second law school campus in Happy Valley, I was very apprehensive about what that would mean five years down the road. Would Carlisle be fighting a law school merger and be in danger of losing the law school once again? I'm relieved that the law school board of governors rejected that plan.

I agree with law school board member Jason Kutulakis that a possible merge between the law school and Dickinson College is an exciting possibility. Both institutions have been gracing downtown Carlisle for over 100 years, with beautiful architecture, landscaping and an amazing sense of community.

Carlisle businesses benefit from the students, faculty and staff of both schools every day. Plus, countless residents affiliated with the schools volunteer for community organizations that strive for improvement to the area.

I believe a union of the law school and Dickinson College would be in the best interest of the schools, as Sen. Hal Mowery pointed, by helping boost school rankings, and it also would be wonderful to have them reunite.

RICHARD D. STETS
Carlisle

PSU, Dickinson chiefs meet

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Thursday, October 7, 2004

PSU, Dickinson chiefs meet
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of Our Carlisle Bureau
Penn State is mum on President Graham Spanier's visit yesterday to Dickinson College President Bill Durden. After they talked, though, Durden told community leaders at a business luncheon that there could be major gains in a merger between the college and The Dickinson School of Law, Penn State's law school.

"He had a tone of enthusiasm. If they were to merge ... his full expectation ... is to make sure that it would result in a top-tier law school," said Cumberland County Chief Clerk John Connolly. "He was interrupted two or three times by a solid round of applause. Everyone was switched on."

The Greater Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon was held, in part to bestow a business advocacy award on state Sen. Hal Mowery, R-Camp Hill.

Mowery aide Alan Berlin said the senator is taking part in talks between Penn State and the college, supplying details on available state and local funding for a Dickinson/Dickinson partnership.

Penn State and Dickinson College last month opened talks on changing the law school affiliation.

The news came on the heels of a decision by the law school's board of governors to postpone a Penn State plan to open a second law campus in State College.

The board of governors doesn't run the law school but can veto plans to move the school or change its name. Under Penn State's terms for creating a second law campus, the board would have lost control over the school's location.

Penn State, which merged with the law school in 2000, had argued that a State College presence would allow law students to enhance their degrees with business and science classes.

The university and Dickinson College now say the college can offer some of those opportunities.

Dickinson College spokeswoman Christine Dugan said among the issues still to be settled are the cost of a new affiliation and a method for management of the law school.

It is unclear if a $25 million matching grant, which Gov. Ed Rendell pledged toward a renovation of the law school, would still be available under a new affiliation, Rendell's press secretary Kate Philips said yesterday.

LeRoy Zimmerman, chairman of the law school's board, said it isn't clear how the board will participate in negotiations between the college and Penn State.

ELIZABETH GIBSON: 249-2006 or egibson@patriot-news.com INFOBOX: COMING UP

* The Dickinson School of Law's board of governors will meet at 1 p.m. Oct. 15 in the law school's facility on Allen Road in Carlisle.