TimesLeader.com

Wilkes trustees approve proposal for law school

By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer

WILKES-BARRE -- The board of trustees of Wilkes University has given the go-ahead for a new School of Law with contingencies.

Wilkes University’s Board of Trustees approved the proposal for a new law school on Friday, contingent on the university being able to raise the necessary funds without taxing the university’s other schools, programs or priorities. The board would have to evaluate a final proposal before giving the final green light to what would be Northeast Pennsylvania's first law school.

Tim Gilmour, Wilkes president, said he hopes to seat the inaugural class of 60 full-time students and 25 part-time students in 2011. “Creating a law school for Northeastern Pennsylvania is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will have a significant impact on Wilkes University and the surrounding communities by increasing graduate level educational opportunities, creating jobs, and speeding the region’s economic recovery."

The school would join two other first-of-their-kind colleges for Northeast Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth Medical College is slated to open next fall in Scranton with satellite campuses in Williamsport and Wilkes-Barre. Marywood University is planning to open a School of Architecture at its Scranton campus.

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