Law School Dean Search Near Finish; Administrative Issues to be Addressed

While the Law School waits out the seemingly endless search for a new dean, professors and administrators are quietly making long-range plans for the school that may result in significant changes.

This long-term planning was overshadowed much of last semester as the dean search drew student and faculty frustrations close to the surface. With a new dean expected to address key issues such as minority groups' calls for greater campus representation and the deep rift between radical and more conservative faculty members, outbreaks of protest marked the Law School scene.

Professor of Law Derrick A. Bell's dramatic call for affirmative action in faculty appointments last fall followed a student sit-in at the office of Dean James Vorenberg '49 in the spring. Later, campus conservatives complained that they were not fairly represented on a student dean search committee which reserved two seats for members of the minority Coalition for Diversity. After a bitter campaign, the student body roundly rejected a proposal by the conservative Students' Alliance for Fairness to prevent seats in future ad hoc committees from being reserved for specific groups.

But although the selection of Vorenberg's successor has so far overshadowed the activity of a planning committee, formed last February, the committee's work may prove more influential in the long run. "The new dean may have special interests they [sic] want to push, but the long-range planning is something that has been ongoing and is generally agreed on by everyone," says Associate Dean Andrew L. Kaufman '51.

Kaufman and Associate Dean Frank E. A. Sander are leading the comprehensive effort to review the physical plant, educational and clinical programs, financial aid and other aspects of the Law School.

"It's coming along very well," says Kaufman, "We expect it to be accomplished by spring."

Areas which have been singled out for improvement include Langdell Library and student housing.

"The library badly needs to be modernized," Kaufman says. "It's the same problem as Widener. There are older books that are crumbling...and no places where students can study in groups. And we need to bring in technology and computers." He adds that since the Law School can house only one-third of its students, the planning committee will examine solutions to relieve pressure on non-residential students over "the next 20 to 30 years."

The school will consider beginning fund-raising efforts pending reports from the program's steering committee, Kaufman says.