News

A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your two-week spring break and have returned ready to jump right into the last couple weeks of the semester. This first week back will be particularly busy with Stephen Carter delivering the Rosenthal Lectures on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; the spring Law Board meeting and Wigmore Follies on Friday and Saturday; and Day at Northwestern Law on Saturday.

In addition please keep these other important dates in mind:
April 12 Graduation forms and surveys due
April 12- 16 Cap and gown pick-up
April 16 Spring classes end
April 19- 23 Review sessions and reading period
April 24-May 6 Spring Semester examinations
May 10-14 Convocation Week
May 16 Law School Convocation

New Faculty
I am pleased to announce that we now know two of the distinguished young scholars who will join our research faculty in academic year 2004-2005. Tonja Jacobi and Jide Nzelibe will join us as assistant professors. Tonja is currently a PhD student at Stanford University (political science), and Jide is the Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School.

In addition, Uzoamaka Nzelibe will join us as a clinical assistant professor to work on immigration issues for the Bluhm Legal Clinic, and Matthew Sag, who specializes in intellectual property in the Palo Alto office of Skadden, Arps, will join us as a visiting assistant professor. We will continue to update you as we learn of other faculty who plan to join us in the fall.

Executive LLM in Korea Program Inaugural Graduation Ceremony, March 28
While you were away, the first class of 25 Executive LLM students from Korea visited Chicago to complete their final course and to celebrate their graduation. The students, Korean legal professionals working for businesses, law firms, and government agencies, have spent the past year studying in Seoul, Korea, with Northwestern Law professors. The graduation ceremony was held in the Leigton Faculty Commons on Sunday. Our second class of 38 Executive LLM students began studying in Seoul earlier this month.

Rosenthal Foundation Lecture Series, March 30, 31, and April 1
Stephen L. Carter, best-selling author and the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale University, will deliver this year's Rosenthal Foundation Lecture Series titled "Inconvenient Lives: Just War Theory, Nationalism, and the Rhetoric of Killing." Topics for the three lectures include:

Tuesday, March 30, 4 pm, Rubloff 150
"On Opposing the War and Supporting the Troops"
A reception in the Atrium will follow.

Wednesday, March 31, noon, Rubloff 150
"The Delegation of Dying"
Pizza will be served.

Thursday, April 1, noon, Rubloff 150
"The Quiet Violence of Just Peace"
Pizza will be served.

Day at Northwestern Law, Admitted Students Weekend, April 3
Hundreds of admitted students will be getting acquainted with the Law School on Saturday, April 3, when they join us for Day at Northwestern Law. They will meet with current students, faculty, and administrators, as well as potential classmates. In many cases, this is the weekend when most make the final decision to become permanent members of our community. If you happen to run into any of them, I hope you will tell them what a wonderful place Northwestern Law is.

Wigmore Follies, April 2-3
Admitted students attending Day at Northwestern Law will also have the opportunity to attend Wigmore Follies. If it's anything like last year, this year's production of Wigmore Follies will surely not disappoint. In a long-standing tradition, graduating students write, direct, act, and sing in this annual comedy review. As you may know, from the creative flyers posted around the Law School, this year's production, "Wigmore Reloaded" asks the question "What is the Westlex?"

Law Board Meeting, April 2-3
The annual spring Law Board meeting also coincides with Day at Northwestern Law and Wigmore Follies. I meet with the Law Board, whose members include alumni as well as legal and business professionals, twice each year to discuss and gather feedback about the basic direction of the school and implementation of the strategic plan. Members of the board will also be attending the Wigmore Follies sneak preview on Friday evening and joining the admitted students for a lunch on Saturday.

Taking a Hard Look at Rwandan Genocide and Its Aftermath, April 5
In the wake of two major genocides during the 1990s in Bosnia and Rwanda, an all-day symposium, “Reflection and Reconsideration: 10 Years After the Rwandan Genocide,” organized by the Children and Family Justice Center will focus on the International Criminal Trial for Rwanda (ICTR). Participants will take a hard look at the responsibilities of the media and others for such extraordinary brutality as well as the role of justice in reweaving the fabric of civil society.

Public Service Benefit Dinner, April 8
The Student Funded Public Interest Fellowship will host its First Annual Public Service Benefit Dinner on Thursday, April 8, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Law School. The event will recognize three Northwestern Law alumni -- Professor Emerita Dawn Clark Netsch, JD ’52; Graham Grady, JD ’83, of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw; Bill Wilen, JD ’73, of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law -- for their outstanding contributions in public service.

Student Leadership Retreat, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, April 16-18
At the annual Student Leadership Retreat, which will take place in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, student leaders will participate in numerous events, including a brainstorming session on ways to improve student life here at Northwestern Law. On Sunday morning, student leaders will meet with me and other Law School staff members to discuss issues raised in the brainstorming session.

Faculty Conference, The Rehnquist Court, April 23-24
The Rehnquist Court marks its 16th anniversary this year. During the course of its tenure, the court has staked out new ground in areas including federalism, free speech and the religion clauses, the Fourteenth Amendment, and substantive due process. Legal scholars and practitioners from law schools across the country will gather to discuss the Rehnquist Court and its legal doctrines at this conference organized by Professor John McGinnis.

Graduation Convocation for the Class of 2004, May 16, 2004
We are pleased to have Senator Joseph R. Biden as the speaker for the convocation ceremony, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 16, at 1:30 p.m. at the Arie Crown Theatre in the Lakeside Center at McCormick Place, 2301 South Lake Shore Drive. A reception at the Law School for graduates, friends, and family will follow. Please visit the Convocation Web page for more information.

David E. Van Zandt
Dean
Northwestern University School of Law
357 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 503-8460
Fax: (801) 650-6873
E-mail: d-van2@law.northwestern.edu

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