Samuelson, and Nick Surma – each of whom
is a 2019 UND Law graduate. In September,
we were together in Bismarck at the State
Capitol, where they perform their daily
work and where I had the privilege of being
sworn in with them at the North Dakota
bar admissions ceremony. In October, we
were again together in Grand Forks, where
the School of Law had the honor of hosting
the Court for two days of oral arguments
and moot court judging, guest lectures in
classes, and great conversations with our law
students. Seeing these outstanding graduates
back at UND Law and serving the public by
fulfilling their duties to the Court made me
immensely proud. It also visibly reinforced
the extraordinary bond that exists between
the Court and the School of Law, and the
distinctively fruitful and enduring legacies
we have long worked together to sustain for
the good of our state and the excellence of its
legal profession.
III. I have been increasingly inspired
and motivated by our alumni’s passion
for UND Law and its future.
program of legal education. Moreover, I am
thrilled our alumni have continued to give
of their treasure for ongoing support for us
in other essential areas of need, including
for generous student scholarships (in both
existing and new initiatives); fulfillments of
their pledges that made possible our School
of Law building renovation and addition
in 2015 and its tremendous improvements;
and our School of Law Annual Excellence
Fund, the primary donated pool of funds
that allows me to readily meet priority
needs that arise in the life of UND Law
(such as this year’s planned enhancements
to the technology in the Molbert Room, the
classroom where our first-year law students
meet for most of their classes).
But it is important to emphasize our alumni
also vitally support our UND School of
Law through their generous contributions
of time and talent. Their offerings of these
kinds are too numerous to recount in
full, but they include: mentoring our law
students both informally and formally (such
as through the Professional Foundations
mentoring sessions held last spring and
this April 1); supervising our students in
their externships and field placements;
sharing their insights and experiences with
our students as guest lecturers or panelists;
making professional and personal sacrifices
to carve out substantial time from their
schedules to teach our students as adjunct
faculty members; and attending our UND
Law events such as Homecoming, Helen
Hamilton Day, and other gatherings where
our students can network with them and
find superb role models to follow as they
begin their own professional journeys.
As I enter the second half of my first year
as our Dean, I am grateful for having
already met with so many alumni who have
helped our School of Law become what
it is today. I am also truly grateful for how
their collaboration and encouragement
nourishes my confidence and faith in what
UND Law will continue to be for the
future.
Finally, during my first six months as our
Dean, my visits with our alumni both here
and on the road have made me increasingly
inspired and motivated by their passion
for UND Law and its future. As I have
traveled in these recent months, I have often
discussed with our alumni the $250,000
matching grant provided by the North
Dakota Legislature in the 2019 session.
We have been focusing our grant-based
fundraising on creating endowed support
for clinical legal education and for faculty
recruitment and retention, particularly in the
area of energy law. It has been so rewarding
to see the enthusiasm with which our
alumni have responded to these important
initiatives, and I am happy to report we
have made tremendous progress in meeting
our goal of quickly making the most of the
match opportunity. At this writing, we are
already 80 percent of the way there. I am
excited in 2020 to build on that foundation
to grow and strengthen our UND Law
endowments to help us be – when faced
with future challenges – resilient and
financially well-positioned to meet them and
maintain the high quality we expect for our
WINTER 2020
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