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Monday Morning Message 5.13.19 Dear Violet...
“Every day I fight against the urge to lasso the world and make it tame for you. I wish I could keep you in a bubble. I wish I could keep you safe here with me forever, but I will use all my strength, and I will give you wings instead my love; then I will cry the day you use them.” -Jessica Cushman Johnston
“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.” -Anna Quindlen
“Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.” – Mary Schmich
Yesterday was Mother’s Day. It’s a day when we thank, honor, and celebrate the miracle of motherhood, the most powerful life force on earth.
Monday Morning Message 5.6.19 Yearning To Breathe Free
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” -Emma Lazarus’ sonnet, New Colossus, inscribed on a bronze plaque at the Statue of Liberty
On this day in 1940, John Steinbeck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his classic novel The Grapes of Wrath. It's the story of a poor Midwestern migrant farming family fighting to keep their family intact. They were not immigrants. They were migrants from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl who had come to California when drought made their lives as farmers impossible.
Monday Morning Message 4.29.19 Final Exam Secret Sauce: A Prayer, Some Tips, and 22 Uplifting Songs
“Well, tests ain’t fair. Those that study have an unfair advantage.” – Allan Dare Pearce, Paris in April
“It’s not that I’m that smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” – Albert Einstein
Final exams begin today and continue until May 10. We provide coffee and food outside my office every day during exams, but I also want to offer my final exam secret sauce- a prayer, some tips, and 22 uplifting songs.
Monday Morning Message 4.22.19 Announcing the 2019 CMLAW Hall of Fame Inductees and 2019 Leader on the Rise!
“Standing in the hall of fame…. Cause you burn with the brightest flame.” - “Hall of Fame”, The Script
“As one of the students who attended the Hall of Fame Celebration, I can’t tell you enough how inspiring it was to learn about our incredible alumni, founding honorees, and other law school supporters in the community.”
“As a 1L student, last night served as an incredible reminder of why I wanted to be a part of this community in the first place. To be a part of a night that honored all of the incredible individuals that have made it possible for me and others to be where we are was a remarkable experience…”
Monday Morning Message 4.15.19 A Law School Without Walls
“I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” -Albert Einstein
We are a law school without walls.
Every week, and almost every day, from mid-August through mid-June, there is an event at CSU Cleveland-Marshall that takes learning outside the classroom.
I want to highlight some upcoming major C|M|Law Events and C|MLaw-related events that you don’t want to miss! All events are at the law school unless otherwise noted.
Monday Morning Message 4.8.19 Our Grit Rate
“Three bricklayers are asked: “What are you doing?” The first says, “I am laying bricks.” The second says, “I am building a church.” And the third says, “I am building the house of God.” The first bricklayer has a job. The second has a career. The third has a calling.” ― Angela Duckworth
Monday Morning Message 4.1.19 May It Please the Court
“Equal Justice under the law is not merely a caption on the facade of the Supreme Court building, it is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our society.” -Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell
As we walked up the steps of one of the most awe-inspiring buildings in the world, we saw sixteen majestic marble columns. Above them were the engraved words "Equal Justice Under Law."
We walked through the main corridor known as the Great Hall and saw the busts of all the former Chief Justices, including Chief Justice John Marshall, after whom our law school is named.
Monday Morning Message 3.25.19 A Leader Degree.
“It is ironic that the occupation most responsible for producing America’s leaders has focused so little attention on that role…." –Professor Deborah Rhode, Stanford Law School; author, Lawyers as Leaders
“Although legal education emphasizes technical skills….it is the soft skills that most frequently distinguish an exceptional attorney from an ordinary attorney….soft skills are to hard skills as software is to hardware.” –Randall Kiser, Soft Skills for the Effective Lawyer
I regularly ask legal employers what they look for when they are hiring our students and graduates. The answer is almost always the same. They tell me that while technical legal skills and substantive legal knowledge are very important, they are looking for differentiating skills.
Monday Morning Message 3.18.19 You Hold in your Hands...
“You hold in your hands what many believe to be the best novel ever written. To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of a crusading lawyer, Atticus Finch, and his fight for moral truth and racial justice. Today, his character continues to ignite important dialogue. This iconic story has inspired many of our students to be lawyers.
It is our gift to you because of the path you have chosen and because the story of Cleveland-Marshall is also an iconic story of justice and equality….
Monday Morning Message 3.11.19 Be Brave Enough to Care
“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” – President Theodore Roosevelt.
As our prospective and admitted students consider where they will attend law school this coming fall, they will look at all the assets that a law school has to offer. Some can be measured by national rankings, but even more cannot.