The American legal system is more than just Atticus Finch or Law & Order, and students will have a chance to learn all about it when Eastern gets its very first pre-law club later this year.
Junior communication studies major Adrienne Cleveland has begun the process of getting approval and official club status from SGA. The club will be open to anyone who is interested in law.
Cleveland, who plans to attend law school after Eastern, hopes the club will be helpful to other students interested in attending law school after graduation.
“There’s too many people wanting to go to law school and nothing to help them get there,” she said.
She noted that Eastern has no official pre-law program, though there is a minor in legal studies listed in the interdisciplinary studies section of the course catalog.
Cleveland has a broad vision for the club. She hopes it will serve as a forum for general discussion of the American legal system, as well as a venue for holding mock trials.
For those interested in going to law school, one service the club will offer is preparation for the LSATs, the law school entry exams.
As part of the process of starting the club, Cleveland drafted a constitution, which she submitted to SGA along with a petition with fifteen signatures of interested students. Dean of Students Daryl Hawkins then had to sign the petition. The club will go to a vote in the SGA senate in order to get final approval from SGA.
SGA treasurer Adam Brittin was one student who expressed interest in the pre-law club.
He said that he hopes that the club will be a forum for “whatever opportunities we may find that we can share and help each other in the pursuit of legal studies.”
Political science chair Dr. Kathy Lee will fill the role of faculty advisor. Lee also holds a juris doctor degree from Temple University.
Lee hopes that the club will broaden students’ perspectives on what the legal system is all about.
“I think we’re stuck with these TV images of what it’s like to be an attorney,” she said.
“I hope the club challenges students to think broadly about the law.”