Penn State Dickinson School of Law’s board of directors ought
to find an alternative to its proposal to end first-year classes in
Carlisle. Its scheme to force students to start their law-school
education at State College instead of Carlisle would be bad for the
local economy and bad for law students who want to get a full education
here. It’s ironic that an institution that teaches students about
contract law would so eagerly seek to breach a contract of its own.
Last
week, law school’s board of directors said financial pressure will
force the college to end first-year classes in Carlisle. Instead,
students would be required to begin at State College and then opt to
complete their second and third years here. Just seven years ago, that
same board signed a deal with the Cumberland County Redevelopment
Authority where they promised, in exchange for a $25 million grant to
redesign Trickett Hall, to maintain a full three-year law-degree program
in Carlisle until at least 2025. The college’s board said the market
for legal services has dried up, hence its proposal to cut and run.
While
our understanding of contract law is limited, it defies logic that the
law school could just arbitrarily decide to ignore its agreement to
maintain three-year classes here simply because the economy fell out.
It’s not like the $25 million grant didn’t come through, or that the
work at Trickett Hall didn’t get completed. Local officials held up
their end of the bargain; shouldn’t the law school? This obviously is a
ploy to shut down the law school. How many students who start at State
College will arbitrarily decide to transfer to Carlisle for their second
and/or third years?
Times are tough for all sectors, and law
schools are no exception. But it’s important for the law school to set a
model for its students and honor its agreement, no matter how onerous
it may be seven years into it. Carlisle needs a full three-year
law-degree program available to students. Offering only second- and
third-year education is cutting the community and its potential law
students short."
