TCU not worried about possible sale of law school
An addition of a law school is a future possibility, not a current priority, Chancellor Michael Ferrari said. He said he wants to focus on undergraduate and graduate programs.
By Antoinette Vega
Staff Reporter

The possible sale of Texas Wesleyan University’s law school to the University of North Texas would not prevent students interested in practicing law from attending TCU, Chancellor Michael Ferrari said Wednesday.

While the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday that UNT began discussing the possibility of acquiring TWU’s law school after TCU dropped out of negotiations, Ferrari said TCU is still open for discussions even though he considers the matter closed.

“TCU is a nationally ranked university putting UNT and TWU in a different league academically,” he said. “Some students may consider going to UNT but most students interested in law want to attend schools with strong law programs such as the University of Texas at Austin or Southern Methodist University.”

The executive committee of Wesleyan’s board of trustees are expected to discuss a bid from UNT at its meeting next month, according to the article.

Ferrari confirmed that TCU withdrew an offer presented in April 2001 to acquire TWU’s law school over the summer because he said the university did not receive a response from TWU.

Ferrari said he would not disclose the amount TCU offered, nor confirm a $30 million offer reported in the Star-Telegram.

The decision to end discussions came after a year and a half of talks between TWU and TCU about a possible sale of the TWU law school. Ferrari said he was approached by I. Richard Gershon, dean of the TWU law school, in April 2001 to discuss the possibility of TCU being involved in the future of the law school. Ferrari would not elaborate on what that meant.

“After meetings with President Harold Jeffcoat and visits to the law school, an outside appraisal firm evaluated the dollar worth of the law school,” Ferrari said. “Since we never heard back from Jeffcoat, we assumed they were not interested and therefore decided to close the matter.”

However, Jeffcoat said he declined TCU’s offer in a letter directed to Ferrari in April. Jeffcoat said a TCU offer, which he would not disclose, was inadequate.

“The board of trustees voted the offer down because it was less than the school was worth,” Jeffcoat said. “With its location in downtown Fort Worth and its reputation, the law school is an asset.”

Donald Jackson, a political science professor and the pre-law advisor, said the possibility of UNT acquiring TWU’s law school will have little effect on the 200 students at TCU interested in practicing law.

“I advise students to go to the best law schools in the country, which include Yale University, Harvard University and Stanford University,” he said. “TWU’s law school will not rank as high as these universities even if it is associated with UNT.”

Meredith Holbert, a junior Spanish major interested in practicing law, said she would have attended TCU even if UNT had an established law program because she thinks TCU has a better undergraduate program.

“I came to TCU because of the academic programs,” she said. “I always planned on attending law schools like SMU or Baylor University and knew TCU would prepare me for that. Even if UNT develops a law school I wouldn’t attend it because it would take time for it to develop.”

Provost William Koehler said the turn of events will not hinder TCU’s efforts to eventually establish its own law school. The addition of a law school was discussed in the Commission of the Future of TCU in 2000.

“The Dallas/Fort Worth area is growing at a rapid rate and could easily accommodate three law schools,” he said. “Other areas have more law schools and are doing fine.”

For instance, Houston has three law schools: University of Houston, South Texas School of Law and Texas Southern University.