Dean's Column

Season's Greetings and Best Wishes for the New Year

As those who read this column know, one of the things that I like about living in West Virginia is that we have four distinct seasons. It's not that I like them all equally, because I don't. Winter is my least favorite season because I do not look forward to the short days and long nights or shoveling snow from my driveway. While I do not like the winter weather, I do like the special feeling that comes with the holiday season. In West Virginia, the period of time between the fall of the last leaf and the ringing in of the new year is a time of family and friends. It is a time when we pause to reflect on how much we truly have to be thankful for; a time of good cheer and fellowship. In my family, Thanksgiving is a time for the extended family to get together and to enjoy a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. The sense of family and community which begins with Thanksgiving carries into the Christmas season. Having young ones in the family brings an increased joy to this time of year and this year our grandchildren will certainly brighten our holiday season. During the season we tend to reflect more on those things that are really important in our lives. We are more conscious of our blessings and appreciative of what we have and, for a brief period of time, we tend to set aside our problems and our worries.

This year, as I begin to count the blessings I think not only in terms of my own family but also of the law school community. Over the past several years, our alumni and friends have been very generous in their support of our College of Law, and their gifts of both time and resources are making a significant difference. Every gift, regardless of its size, makes a difference. The gifts of our recent graduating classes have made it possible to have more attractive and visible signage at the intersection of Law School Drive and University Avenue, podiums for the courtroom, and a College of Law seal behind the judges' bench in the Lugar Courtroom. While many of us continue to refer to the law school as the "new" law school, we have, in fact, been in our current facility for 26 years. This year, a donor who at this time wishes to remain anonymous, has given us the funds which have enabled us to completely refurbish both our student and our faculty lounges to make each of these lounges something that we are again very proud of. In addition, during the course of this academic year we plan to refurbish the staff lounge and the group study rooms located within the library. Endowments for professorships by the law firms of Goodwin & Goodwin; Steptoe & Johnson; Jackson & Kelly; Bowles, Rice, McDavid, Graff & Love, and the two created by Buck and June Harless will make our faculty an even better and stronger faculty in the years ahead.

New scholarships will help to attract talented and deserving students to our College of Law and lessen the financial burden of law school for these recipients in the years ahead. New scholarships have been created by J. Franklin Long, Arch Coal, Harvey Weiner, Jeremy McCamic in celebration of the his family's 100 years of practice of law in West Virginia, in memory of Judge William Kidd of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, and in honor of Katherine Phillips Kenna Combs (Class of 1975) by Elizabeth Kenna and the late Lee Kenna. The law firm of Wilson, Frame, Benninger & Metheney has endowed at Trial Advocacy scholarship. There are also scholarships honoring long time employees Agnes Furman (two scholarships) and Louise Farrell Winterbottom, and gifts in memory of former Dean Paul Selby which were added to his scholarship. There are scholarships created by the estates of Dennis and Lyla Clare Sharpe and Thelma Shaw, and one in memory of my classmate, Ellen F. Warder. There is the new College of Law Visiting Committee Scholarship, and the members of the Class of 1969 continue to build their scholarship endowment, while the Class of 1957 is close to completing one. President and Mrs. Hardesty have endowed a scholarship for law students . Andy Herz, a wall street lawyer and graduate of Columbia Law School, became a friend of our law school while Gordon Gee was dean. Andy not only serves on our Development Council, but is also now endowing a scholarship. In addition, the Women's Law Caucus is currently soliciting funds which should complete the endowment of that scholarship, and Phil Hill annually adds to his scholarship endowment in memory of his father. These scholarships, along with other endowments and annual scholarships, all lessen the financial burden of those seeking a legal education.

Endowments also enrich the educational opportunities for our students. An endowment in memory of Charles Armistead supports the Moot Court program and the Ralph J. Bean endowment supports the Law Review. Stan Hostler has made significant contributions to support the Appalachian Center for Law and Public Service as have Scott Segal and Robin Davis, and Dr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Clark have endowed the Law and Medicine Lecture Series. The Defense Trial Counsel has created an endowment to support the technology needs at the College of Law, and Gary Joe Triplett, chair of the Development Council, is creating an endowment with the income to be used where the need is greatest. Verizon has made an in-kind gift of important technology to create videoconferencing which links our College of Law with the West Virginia Supreme Court and the county courthouses as part of the Court's Videoconferencing Network.

Elizabeth Copenhaver Smith has increased her endowment in support of the College of Law Library, and thirteen members of the University faculty and staff have taken advantage of a special matching gift program by the West Virginia Research Corporation to create endowments in support of the College of Law Library. The Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust has made a significant gift to support the operation of the dean's office, and Regina Jennings' gift provided a state-of-the-art technology teaching room. William Carroll provided a substantial gift in his will to support the College of Law "where the need is greatest."

A special blessing that our College of Law enjoys is the excellent relationship with the legal profession in West Virginia. Members of the bench and bar, in a variety of ways, help to assure that our students are prepared to assume their place in our society as lawyers. An extremely important manifestation of this support are the three scholarships provided by the West Virginia State Bar (one for each of the law school classes), the scholarship provided by the West Virginia Bar Auxiliary, and the scholarship assistance provided by the West Virginia Bar Association and by the Mountain State Bar.

All of these gifts, and the gifts of many others from earlier years, support our central mission of training the lawyers of tomorrow, and the furtherance of the rule of law in our society.

Finally, as this year grows to a close, I wish to use this column to express my personal appreciation and sincere thanks to those members of the bench and bar who have been so very supportive of me both individually, and in my capacity as the dean of our College of Law. I sincerely thank those who have given money to help enrich the opportunities and the programs for our students and our faculty, and for those who have given of their time and their talents to assist us on our committees and with our educational program and co-curricular activities. I appreciate, and do not take for granted, the support of President Hardesty and Provost Lang and others in the university central administration who contribute to the success of our law school each and every day.

Therefore, in keeping with the holiday season and with the approach of a new year, I am thankful for our many blessings, I appreciate and enjoy your friendship, and both personally and on behalf of our law school community, I extend seasons greetings and best wishes for the new year.