Catholic School News: Ave Maria Faculty Exodus (and the St. Thomas Poll)
We were tempted to give you a scandalous photo of a Catholic schoolgirl with this post, but we thought a heavenly Will Ferrell was funnier. Now, on to Catholic School News.
We’ve been following the trials and tribulations of Ave Maria School of Law for some time now. The school even has its own category tag on ATL.
In the latest news, reported by Julie Kay in the National Law Journal, more than a dozen faculty members have left since the February 2007 decision to move the school from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Ave Maria, Florida (a town founded by Domino’s founder and school head Thomas Monaghan):
The brain drain at the school has been devastating, [tenured professor Richard Myers] said.“There were 20 full-time people on the faculty a year-and-a-half ago,” he said. “Next year there will be five of that group left teaching full-time. That’s a dramatic change.”
The law school has been actively trying to recruit new teachers, Myers said, with only limited success. The school recently hired a tax professor and a visiting professor, he said.
Prospective law school students may want to steer clear until Ave Maria gets back on track. The extensive list of the departed faculty members is available below the fold.
In other Catholic law school news, we reported earlier this month on St. Thomas’s decision not to let students complete their pro bono requirement at organizations with missions that conflict with Catholic values. If you choose to go to a Catholic school for its ranking and not its religious mission, don’t expect sympathy if you gripe to your friends about the school imposing its values on you. In our poll, over 57% of the 1,726 voters supported St. Thomas’s decision.
More discussion, after the jump.
Here’s a list of some of the Ave Maria faculty who have jumped ship:
— Lee Strang (going to the Toledo College of Law)
— James Sonne (taking a clerkship with a federal judge in Louisiana)
— Joseph Falvey (now an assistant U.S. attorney in Michigan)
— Howard Bromberg
— Bridget Carr (now teaching at University of Notre Dame Law School)
— Nora O’Callaghan (now a visiting professor at University of Idaho School of Law)
— Kevin Lee (now at Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law School)
— Richard Myers (going to be a visiting professor at Notre Dame)
— Vanessa Pierce (going to teach at Wayne State Law School)
— Diane Eisenberg
— former Judge Robert Bork (on medical leave)
— Dean Bernard Dobranski (indefinite medical leave)
— Edward Lyons (“indefinite leave of absence”)
— Phil Pucillo (“indefinite leave of absence”)
— Stephen Safranek
Professors Lyons, Pucillo and Safranek have filed a lawsuit against the school, claiming the school retaliated against them for protesting the move to Florida.
C’mon, guys. What do you have against Florida? It’s the Sunshine State. You may not be allowed to have crosses on your license plates or truck nutz on your bumpers, but on the upside, you no longer have to suffer through Michigan winters.
P.S. The move to Ave Maria, Florida, appears to be on hold for the time being. From the NLJ: “Ave Maria School of Law, apparently unable to sell naming rights to its planned new building in Ave Maria, Fla., will instead move to an older building in nearby Naples.”
Law School’s Move Opens Door for Exiting Faculty [National Law Journal]
Ave Maria to Relocate Law School Once Again [National Law Journal via TaxProf Blog]
Earlier: Higher Education and Higher Law: Planned Parenthood Is a No-No for Pro Bono at St. Thomas
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I love how one left to go clerk and another left to become an AUSA. So they had the equivalent of first or second year associates teaching classes? Nice.
Here is my fundamental disagreement with the premise of this post. (First!, bt the way.)
If the law school in question was not founded by an established catholic religious order (Jesuits, for example), it is not a "catholic school".
PS--A pizza chain, in my view, fails to qualify as a religious order.
Ave Maria to free pizzas!!!!!!!!!
Kash, please switch to the hot schoolgirl pic. Gracias.
The link on the right hand margin promises "hottest videos instantly" and clicking on the link one sees a video loop of a woman of color in a short-backless pants suit (it is assumed) having a serial orgasm.
If this site is going to go porn, could it please be more REVEALING.
Just a thought.
PPS: I attended a real catholic school undergrad--USF-- and we lived for pizza from Red Boy. So the pizza angle might have some appeal if free and pleantiful.
"don't expect sympathy if you gripe to your friends about the school imposing its values on you"
Hey, Kash, your contempt is showing. St. Thomas didn't "impose its values" on the students in question any more than a student would be "imposing her values" on St. Thomas by insisting on pro bono credit for service to Planned Parenthood. Is the school also "imposing its values" on students if it doesn't give credit for service to the American Nazi Party?
Kash as catholic school girl = even better
Vast left wing conspiracy -- Bork to Ave Maria.
Yes, second the call for Kash to switch to the schoolgirl pic. Or snap one of herself as the schoolgirl.
I'm Catholic, and I think they should have gotten credit. Pro bono service to any legal organization should count.
Kash, at the very least, post the pic after the jump
what's a catholic school girl? please post a pic!
The pic is in poor taste... Even for those of us who aren't Catholic...
Damn, 3:40 beat me to it
I don't understand what these professors are complaining about. I once seriously considered attending Ave Maria (because they were offering a free ride not because I'm a Catholic nut job). Even took a tour and it was no secrete that they would be moving to Florida in a few years. Oh well, just glad I chose a T-25 school even with the 80k of debt.
Side bar- During my tour of Ave Maria I said to the tour guide "So, you all are pretty much conservative around here," and she said "Oh no, we have some Jewish students." I'm still not sure what exactly she meant by that.
Agree with 4:02. Pic of Kash in a school girl outfit would be perfect.
Yeah, that's what I wanted, too, but I tried to just imply it. 3:40 nailed it. But still no new pic. What gives?
3:22
Howard Bromberg is now teaching in the Legal Writing program at Michigan Law.
3:40 here,
What's the hold up? We've been waiting all afternoon for this pic. Don't you want your site traffic to explode (perhaps literally)? (of course you do)
Also, people:
Kash as catholic schoolgirl = even better
Perfect = Kash dressed as catholic schoolgirl, eating a banana
-- Kevin Lee (now at Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law School)
What's a school of law school?
As someone who goes to law school at Catholic in DC.. yeah.. there's some imposition of Catholic values.. but its not so bad. (Maybe I just don't noitce becuase, technically, I'm Catholic.. but no one seems to mind too much.) Plus, you get extra days off. Spring break AND Easter Break! Also, this year we got Pope Day off! The law school is pretty liberal though.. probably becuase its in DC. The undergrad.. that's another story.
Responding to the first post:
You're absolutely wrong. Joe Falvey (who left to become an AUSA) is a 20+ veteran of the Marine JAG Corps, with extensive academic credentials, teaching and administrative experience on his resume.
He took the AUSA job, I believe, because it allowed him and his family to remain in their home in Michigan, rather than having to try to relocate without a job after he left Ave. He was a tenured full professor at Ave.
As far as Sonne is concerned (the guy who's going to clerk) he is a bit of joke, because he was one of the most active supporters of the move to Florida. However, although he is a younger attorney (although with a Harvard JD), he was certainly not "the equivalent of a first year ... associate."
I should have added that Falvey's experience in the corps included over 10 years as a judge, both trial and appellate, and that he still hears appeals from courts marshal as a reservist.
1. Regarding Joe Falvey - yeah right. Go try some federal cases in Detroit and see this first-year associate in action. Bring some kleenex.
2. The move is still on. The school is moving into a nursing home. No shit.
3. The faculty at Ave is stellar (or it was stellar, before it was run off). The malfeasance of the Board of Governors and its Chairman is the only reason Ave isn't higher in the rankings. Well, maybe that plus the combined prejudices of the West Coast rainbow people and the East Coast yuppies.