PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — There’s frustration and a bit of anxiety on the Hilltop from several Bradley University students who want to pursue a legal career.
On Wednesday, they found out the Center for Legal Studies is “closing indefinitely” and the director of that department was no longer working for the university. The center helps students who are considering going to law school with their applications, preparing for the LSAT test and works to set up internships.
The move comes just days after Bradley announced it had a $13 million budget shortfall which meant major changes will be coming in the form of cuts to programs and staff.
Hailey Keaton, a Bradley senior, has started a petition to keep the center open.
“As a senior who is about to start the application process next month, trying to look at law schools, see what’s the best for me, navigating all the ins and outs, which is a very and daunting and terrifying process,” she said. “To have that almost be stripped away and the success that the pre-law center would provide is no longer there. It was just very disheartening.”
Fellow BU senior Logan Caudill agreed and wondered how their preperations for post-graduate work would happen without the Center.
“There’s a younger group, there’s others coming behind us that we need to continue to have this center for them, for them to be successful, not only at Bradley but to go into law school and everything,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the university didn’t respond directly to questions posed by a WMBD reporter. Rather, she said, the school was fortunate to have a passionate and engaged faculty and staff. The spokeswoman did say that the school would not comment publicly on personnel matters.
