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Satellite campus foreseen for UR
UR law students could live downtown and be near courts, dean says
BY GARY ROBERTSON
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Between 50 and 140 University of Richmond law school students could be living downtown as part of a new satellite campus that might open within the next two years.
UR law school Dean Rodney A. Smolla said university officials have looked at a dozen potential sites in the downtown area, and he hopes that the location of the extended law school campus and issues related to it could be decided this fall.
"The fact that the city of Richmond is the center of gravity for the state and federal courts in the area is an important consideration," Smolla said in discussing the reasons the law school is considering a satellite campus downtown.
One example of the concentration of courts is the ongoing construction of an $83 million federal courthouse at East Broad, Grace, Seventh and Eighth streets.
Smolla suggested that bringing law students downtown would help make UR's law school more relevant to the community.
He envisions a law clinic as part of the extended campus in which "students are involved in the real world serving real people."
Living in an urban setting could be attractive to a number of current and prospective law students, Smolla said.
Currently, most of UR's 475 law school students live off campus.
"We have gradually given up on campus law-student housing," Smolla said.
The dean noted that 90 percent of law school classes would still be conducted on UR's campus. Students living downtown would commute.
Contact Gary Robertson at (804) 649-6346 or grobertson@timesdispatch.com