“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you….” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
As Thanksgiving approaches this week,
I’m thankful for:
- our talented faculty, students, and staff who come together every day to teach and learn in ways that are collaborative and spirited.
- our loyal alumni and former faculty, staff, and deans for building an iconic law school that is an enduring, essential piece of the fabric of our city, region, and state.
- our generous donors and supporters, including our Board of Visitors and Law Alumni Association, who share their time, treasure, and talent to help our students succeed.
- CSU President Bloomberg, Provost Sridhar, and other leaders of our university who support our efforts to achieve our strategic goals.
- our daily focus on our Mission: Learn Law Live Justice.
- our dedication to our Vision: to be the leading student-centered public law school committed to both excellence and opportunity, with an ethos of social justice and a national voice.
- our Graduate Promise: to be your law school for life.
I’m thankful for being a law school where:
- We welcome diverse viewpoints but where we share common values.
- Our first year class pledged to focus as law students and future lawyers on four core values – Professional Integrity, Civil Discourse, Academic Effort, and Living Justice.
- Our students pledge to conduct themselves honorably, ethically, and with integrity.
- Our students pledge to conduct themselves with dignity and civility and treat all people with kindness, courtesy, and respect.
- Our students pledge to support freedom of speech and diversity of thought and disagree respectfully, peacefully, and with an open mind.
- Our students pledge to take responsibility for their legal education by giving their best effort and persevering with a growth mindset.
- Our students pledge to support and defend our constitutional democracy and work to further the public’s understanding of and confidence in the ruleof law and the justice system.
- Our students pledge to seek opportunities to provide leadership in their community, engage in pro bono work, and bring access to justice for all.
- We teach not only to understand your client’s position but also the complex motivations and positions of all parties.
- We teach that reconciling differences can be as important as winning cases.
- We teach that we are at our best when we are showing humility, listening to other views, respectfully debating differences, and building consensus.
- We teach to question assumptions, doubt what you know, be curious about what you don’t know, and be open to changing your mind.
- We teach to seek to understand before trying to be understood.
- We teach how to discern what is true and what is not by examining facts and evidence.
- We are committed to a collaborative culture where we advocate for and support our students’ mental and physical health and wellness.
- We are committed to graduate students who use their law degree not only to make a difference for their clients but also to make a difference for people they may never meet.
- We are committed to graduate students who are not only successful professionals, but also lawyer-leaders, custodians of civility, defenders of democracy, and guardians of justice.
I’m very thankful for the honor to serve as Dean of CSU|LAW.
Wishing you and your loved ones a happy, safe, healthy Thanksgiving.
The views and opinions expressed in my Monday Morning Message are solely my own and do not reflect the views and opinions of the law school or the university.
For copies of past messages, please go to this link: Monday Morning Messages
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My best,
Lee
Lee Fisher
Dean, Cleveland State University College of Law
Joseph C. Hostetler-BakerHostetler Chair in Law
1801 Euclid Avenue, LB 138 |Cleveland, Ohio 44115 -2214
216-386-8688 | lee.fishernull@csuohio.nulledu