Valpo School of Law Transfer Denied
Wesemann Hall at the Valparaiso University Law School (photo courtesy Tony V. Martin/The Times of Northwest Indiana)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA proposal to transfer Valparaiso University’s law school to another university has been shot down. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission has denied the transfer to Middle Tennessee State University, which would have led to the creation of a College of Law at the school.
An agreement for the transfer was approved earlier this month by the Valparaiso University Board of Directors and the MTSU Board of Trustees. MTSU President Sidney McPhee said he was very disappointed in the commission’s decision.
"We thank our friends at Valparaiso for their generous offer to transfer its School of Law, which would have represented a significant multi-million dollar gift to the state of Tennessee,” McPhee said in a news release. "And we are sorry that our citizens will be deprived of the opportunities that this college of law would have provided because of concerns about competition by the state’s two existing public law schools."
Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana said the transfer was hinted at nearly a year ago when Valpo President Mark Heckler announced the law school was no longer financially stable and new enrollment would end. He cited changes that included possibly relocating the school to an underserved area. MTSU says its residents are "farther from an accredited, public law school than residents of any other of the 50 largest metro areas in the United States."
Inside INdiana Business has reached out to Valparaiso University for a statement on the THEC’s decision.
