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In my first 11 months as dean of Colorado Law, I have been consistently impressed with the caliber of students, faculty, and staff dedicated to preserving the mission and ideals that we impart in our teachings. As dean, I intend to ensure Colorado Law continues to grow its reputation on the national stage as a top-tier law school. We can achieve this by attracting exceptional students, retaining and recruiting top faculty, and creating an environment where collaboration and innovation are fostered and celebrated. To help us continue Colorado Law’s upward trajectory along these paths, I have identified three main fundraising priorities.

Continuing Colorado Law’s Upward Trajectory

Scholarships

A degree from Colorado Law not only signals outstanding academic achievement but also opens doors to better career opportunities. However, the rising costs of a law degree can be a barrier to entry for many, and significant levels of debt can deter graduates from pursuing their true professional passions. Decades-long declines in state funding and the resulting increases in tuition mean many students graduate with a heavy load of debt. Robust scholarship support is required to help ease that burden.

As a first-generation college student who benefited from scholarships, the importance of scholarship funding is not lost on me and thus stands as my top fundraising priority as dean.

As a first-generation college student who benefited from scholarships, the importance of scholarship funding is not lost on me and thus stands as my top fundraising priority as dean. For many first-generation students or students from low-income or underserved communities, scholarship support can be key to making a legal education possible—including reducing the need for unrelated jobs and allowing students to focus on their studies and future professional success.

Scholarships help recruit students of all backgrounds, ensuring that Colorado Law continues to recruit the best and brightest students and create a diverse and exciting intellectual environment. Through increased philanthropic giving, I aim to dramatically grow our scholarship funding during my tenure as dean and support the greatest areas of need for applicants and returning students.

Faculty Support

During my interviews for the deanship, I was consistently impressed with the caliber of faculty with whom I spoke. However, as competition continues to increase on the rankings stage, it is of the utmost importance to me that we maintain our outstanding current faculty and continue to recruit exceptional talent. Faculty support through the creation of new chairs, professorships, and fellowships is the most direct way to ensure that Colorado Law continues to retain and recruit the most preeminent faculty in their respective fields.

Each year, Colorado Law faces two crucial challenges when it comes to faculty: successfully competing with law schools with significantly greater financial resources to recruit top candidates, and retaining our own superb faculty members when they are sought by other top law schools around the nation. In both instances, we rely on the generosity of our many alumni, friends, and donors to maintain and continue to enhance Colorado Law’s tradition of excellence in legal teaching, research, and public service.

Collaboration

Much has changed in the nature of faculty and faculty-student interactions since the opening of the Wolf Law Building in 2006. In the intervening years, many law schools have flourished by creating vibrant intellectual spaces that prioritize innovation and collaboration.

As such, my third priority as dean is to foster increased partnerships between faculty, students, alumni, and staff through the creation of spaces where they can mix and share ideas, research, and knowledge. To that end, I have begun designing a physical space on the fourth floor of the Wolf Law Building for this express purpose. This space will allow for amplified interaction and ensure that our students have greater access to some of the brightest legal minds in our country.

I believe the creation of a dedicated space for creative discourse and innovation will place Colorado Law on the path to becoming one of the most sought-after destinations for the nation’s top law students and enterprising faculty.