Other universities vie for law program
Private school best option, some say

By Chris Gibson
Skiff Staff

Of the three schools involved in discussions about the possible acquisition of or joining with Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, a private school like TCU would be the best fit, said Sheila Hansel public relations manager for South Texas College of Law.

The University of North Texas and Texas Tech University have publicly shown interest in increasing their presence in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and Texas Wesleyan officials have also contacted TCU.

Texas state representative Domingo Garcia introduced a bill in early March on behalf of North Texas to begin a law school in Dallas. Ray Rodriguez, the assistant to the vice president of government relations at North Texas, said the bill is still pending and has been put to a committee for further study evaluating the need for another law school in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Texas Tech Chancellor John T. Montford has discussed his intentions to reach Tech’s large student base in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

At Texas Wesleyan’s request, TCU Chancellor Michael Ferrari met with Texas Wesleyan president Harold Jeffcoat and law school dean I. Richard Gershon in early March to discuss future possibilities between the two schools, but talks have not reached the negotiation stage.

While Ferrari said that TCU’s discussions about the subject have been minimal, he doesn’t rule out the possibility of the two schools working together in the future.

“We are always open to things that will better our university,” Ferrari said. “If there were some kind of collaboration down the road for law or business or any other programs I think we would be open to discussing them.”

Although some officials from Texas Wesleyan say contacting TCU was simply to advance university relations, other officials said a merger with TCU’s business program could be a possibility.

While Texas Wesleyan is not ranked among the top 160 business schools by U.S. News and World Report’s 2001 college rankings, TCU’s business school has risen to No. 73.

Still other speculations have arose regarding the financial stability of the 111-year-old school.

Texas Wesleyan was placed on probation in December by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools for using $1 million a year in unrestricted endowment income to supplement its $32 million operating budget. The school has also backed out of a deal to purchase 15 acres of land in Fort Worth at a reduced cost. Texas Wesleyan was to purchase the land and then donate it to the Fort Worth Cats minor league baseball team in exchange for them to finance the building of a $8.5 million stadium that both the Cats and Texas Wesleyan baseball teams would share.

The addition of a law school at TCU would address specific issues outlined in the Commission on the Future of TCU, released last semester.
TCU’s endowment is in more than $870 million and the university has made several investments on inexpensive real estate in the last five years.

Public universities in Texas have not had such good fortune with their efforts to buy real estate or merge with other schools’ programs.

A public university has tried to merge with a private law school as recently as 1998. In an ongoing case, Texas A&M’s proposed merger with South Texas College of Law has been denied by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Comprised of appointees, the board handles all cases regarding mergers between universities in Texas. Hansel said Texas A&M approached the South Texas College of Law proposing a merger in 1998.

“(Texas) A&M has been looking to start a law school for many years but they have been told by the state that there is no need for another law school in Texas,” she said. “So they came to us wanting to make our law school part of (Texas) A&M which would have positive repercussions for both schools.”

Both Ferrari and Texas Wesleyan officials have said no time table has been placed on future meetings between the two universities.

Chris Gibson
c.j.gibson@student.tcu.edu