Talk:Michigan State University College of Law

Latest comment: 3 years ago by 7&6=thirteen in topic 99-Year Lease?

99-Year Lease?

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The article mentions that Detroit College of Law was located at 130 E. Elizabeth Street, in Detroit, from 1937 to 1997. It goes on to state that it moved in 1997, because its 99-year lease with the YMCA expired. Hold on a minute! From 1937 to 1997 is only 60 years. What happened to the other 39? Did Detroit College of Law lease a building for 39 years before moving into it, or was it located at 130 E. Elizabeth Street from 1898 to 1997? 174.17.137.81 (talk) 18:56, 5 March 2021 (UTC)Reply

Presumably, they used the YMCA, which was next door. The building was built in 1937, but the existence of the college and its relationship to the YMCA antedated that. 7&6=thirteen () 19:08, 5 March 2021 (UTC)Reply

Here are eight sources, which should be mined and put into the Wikipedia article.

  • Freedman, Eric (June 3, 1996). "DETROIT COLLEGE OF LAW SUES YMCA IN TRUST DISPUTE". Crain’s Detroit Business. The YMCA's involvement with DCL dates back to when it operated DCL, from 1915 to 1940. YMCAs also ran 10 other law schools across the country, an outgrowth of its pioneering activities in higher education. Ties were severed in 1940 under pressure from the bar association, which was unhappy with financial interdependence between law schools and noncollege entities, which could divert law-school revenue. The bar association also conditioned DCL's accreditation on maintaining a separate operation and organization.

More than 100 people gathered at Michigan College of Law on October 22 for the dedication of the law school’s new entrance, the Detroit College of Law Plaza that honors thousands of alumni who graduated from DCL in downtown Detroit, before the historic law school affiliated with MSU in 1995.

The event included a ribbon-cutting ceremony carried out by Dean Joan Howarth; MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon; Linda Orlans, ’87, chair, MSU College of Law Board of Trustees; Bryan Melvin from the MSU Law Alumni Association, senior counsel at e-Title Commercial in Detroit; and two of the plaza “founders,” the Hon. Peter Lucido and Professor Emeritus Clark Johnson, who helped spearhead the project. A reception followed in the John F. Schaefer Law Library, where Howarth, Simon, Lucido, and Orlans each offered remarks.

A fund-raising campaign raised more than $1.3 million, of which more than $800,000 is earmarked for DCL Legacy Scholarships.

The plaza features a granite seal noting DCL’s founding in 1891 by a group of law clerks and students, who previously had to “read law” in local attorneys’ offices. During the first two years of DCL’s history, the directors were themselves students. [Emphasis added.]

According the MSU Law website, the first class of 69 graduates included a future circuit court judge and a future ambassador. A woman in the first class and an African American in the second exemplified the Law College’s commitment to offering all sectors of the population an opportunity for a quality legal education.

Before the affiliation with MSU Law in East Lansing, DCL was housed at the former Detroit College of Medicine building on St. Antoine Street; the Detroit YMCA building; and on Elizabeth Street. [Emphasis added.]

The last location of the DCL is commemorated by a plaque at Comerica Park, which now occupies the site.

Hope that takes care of your question. Cheers. 7&6=thirteen () 19:50, 5 March 2021 (UTC)Reply