National Jurist - October 2007 - (Page 18) UDC’s arrival After several rough years, The University of the District of Columbia’s law school has solidified its place in legal education thanks to strong financial support, an improved student body and a strong vision. n late August 1995, just days away from the start of the semester, Katherine Broderick packed into moving vans the entire law school she had just taken over, and moved everything the few miles north from downtown Washington, D.C., to the University of the District of Columbia campus. It was a desperate time for a law school that had become a victim of the District of Columbia’s financial trouBy Jack Crittenden bles. The school would drop from 63 down to 39 employees during the fiscal crises. “Never start a public law school in the middle of a city’s bankruptcy,” Broderick said recently. “But now that the city has had a balanced budget for 10 years, so has the law school’s, and we have improved all of our programs.” The University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law has come a long way since then. And Broderick, as dean, has guided it from provisional ABA accreditation in 1998 to full accreditation in 2005. Broderick, who started with the school in 1979 as a law professor when it was known as Antioch School of Law, says the recent improvements are thanks to a comprehensive and coordinated campaign. “There is no one central feature,” she said. “It is a virtuous cycle — when you are surrounded by stronger students, when the physical plant gets better and better, then everything gets better and better. You don’t do that overnight. But you do it in a methodical way, pursuant to a strategic plan.” The school has recently improved in the last area that had been a thorn in its side — the bar exam. It recently improved its first-time bar-passage rate to over 60 percent, in general, and 80 percent in the District of Columbia. Its rates were as low as 31 percent just a few years ago. The school has taken active steps to stem the flood of transfers who are likely to pass the bar exam, by giving all students in the top half of the class a $2,000 s c h o l a r s h i p. It also changed its residency policy so that students can get in-state tuition after living in D.C. for one year. “ We h a v e a very magical place here,” Broderick said. “It’s absolutely unique and we’re doing great things. We are deeply committed to attracting an incredibly diverse group of people who want to change the world, including at home.” T h e s c h o o l ’s vision is to recruit and enroll students from racial, ethnic and other backgrounds, to serve in public interest, public UDC’s Dean Katherine Broderick has been a beacon service and public policy. of light for the school and its students. From financial Judging by recent stastruggles to full ABA accreditation, UDC is achieving tistics, UDC is achieving its mission with Broderick at the wheel. its mission. More than 50 percent of students are members of minority groups — the sixth-highest percentage percent in public interest and 11 percent among ABA-approved schools. Also, 35 in public service. percent of graduates go on to public-poli“We’ve always had a wonderful vision cy jobs, compared to a national average 3 and now we have the financial support 18 THE NATIONAL JURIST October 2007 PHOTO BY BILL PETROS
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