- March 25th, 2006, 10:34 am
#9244
LU law school dean to resignhttp://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Sate ... ws!archive
Ron Brown
rbrown@newsadvance.com
March 25, 2006
Bruce W. Green, who guided Liberty University’s Law School to provisional American Bar Association accreditation in less than two years, will resign his post June 30.
Green has been the only dean in the history of the 18-month-old school.
Mathew D. Staver, the current president of Liberty Counsel and member of the LU Board of Trustees, will assume the position of interim dean.
Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal advocacy group, is headquartered in both Lynchburg and Orlando, Fla.
Staver will temporarily leave his post with Liberty Counsel to assume the dean’s duties.
His wife, Anita, will become the president of Liberty Counsel on July 1. Anita Staver is also an attorney.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, LU’s chancellor, praised Green for his accomplishments.
“He delivered provisional accreditation in record time,” Falwell said. “He put us on a quality course that we will continue to pursue.”
Green has signed a contract to serve as the law school’s lead consultant for two years.
“He’ll work at Mat Staver’s right hand,” Falwell said.
Green said being the first dean of the law school has been gratifying.
“It has been one of the great privileges of my life to be the founding dean of the law school and to develop what I hope to be lasting friendships in the law school and university,” Green said in written remarks released by the university. “I will miss my colleagues and the students I have grown to love.”
Green said when he took the job he agreed to stay on long enough to build a firm foundation for the law school.
“With the conferral of provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association, my original mandate was fulfilled,” he said. “The formative process had be a challenging one and I am now looking forward to a vacation.”
Staver said the process of building a law school from the ground up is taxing.
“Bruce is going to take a breather,” he said. “I think Bruce has done an excellent job. He’s a man of great integrity.”
The law school continues to face some significant challenges.
For the first time next year, it will have a third-year law class, which means additional classrooms and mock courtrooms will be needed.
The school will also continue working toward full accreditation.
“I am humbled that Dr. Falwell has asked me to do this job,” Staver said. “We will undertake a national search for a new dean. I will be acting as dean while this search takes place.”
Staver said the law school and Liberty Counsel were working on plans for a joint constitutional law clinic in January 2007 prior to Green’s announced resignation.
“Being the acting dean will allow me to work on making that clinic happen from the university side,” Staver said. “We’re ready to move ahead.”
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