Sign up to receive an emailed copy of the Dean's Monday Morning Message each week!
Send me my Monday morning message
Monday Morning Message 1.7.19: Guideposts for 2019
Each January I choose 12 quotes, one for each month of the year, to serve as my guideposts for the coming year. My quotes for 2018 and 2017 can be found here: January 8, 2018 MMM /January 9, 2017 MMM
So here’s some wisdom to live by in 2019.
Monday Morning Message 12.17.2018: We are Rising.
“When the law school offered me a scholarship, I asked my sister to read the letter for me because I just couldn’t believe that something so good was happening to me. Seeing how many people invest in this institution really made me study as hard as I can.” -Erica Molnar ’18
“My brother and I are the first generation to go to college….By choosing C|M|LAW, I was choosing to put the weight of the alumni network behind me and that it was worth its weight in the extra loans and money that it would cost me… Looking back… I made the right choice.” -Kimberly Kendall Coral ‘12
This is my final Monday Morning Message of the year; we’ll resume Monday, January 7, 2019.
Monday Morning Message 12.10.2018: Final Exams Test More Than Your Knowledge
“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 began last week and continue until December 21. We provide coffee and food in the Dean’s office every day during exams, but I also want to offer a little advice and share advice from some of our faculty and staff.
Monday Morning Message 12.3.2018: Living Justice
"I want you all to imagine what it was like for me to talk to an 11-year-old dark-skinned boy by the name of Michael, with a scar on his face, who knew to take his pain and suffering of his long eleven years of living - and use it to be a blessing in someone else's life. That broke me down.... It struck a fire in my gut. And that fire was called: never again." – Michael K. Williams Actor, Producer, “Raised in the System.”
Monday Morning Message 11.26.2018: Calling for 2019 Hall of Fame / Leader on the Rise Nominations!
“What a wonderful event …. a lot of positive energy and enthusiasm about our law school and clearly the extraordinary bar results just added to the celebration. Well done …. and thanks to all the students who helped make the event a great success. Here’s to HOF III – onward and upward!” – Kelly Tompkins’ 81
“Thank you so very much for a memorable and heartfelt evening. I was humbled to be in the company of such exceptional alumni. I felt the presence of my parents, who would have been beyond proud of their family.” – Donna Zapis Thomas ‘87
Monday Morning Message 11.19.2018: Thanksgiving Expressions of Gratitude
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously….” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
First, I want to correct an error I made in last week’s message. Justice-elect Melody Stewart ’88 pointed out that I inadvertently omitted Justice Mary DeGenaro ‘86 as another distinguished alumna who served on the Ohio Supreme Court. Prior to her service this past year on the state’s highest court, Justice DeGenaro served nearly 17 years as a judge on the Seventh District Court of Appeals in Youngstown, and we thank her for her outstanding public service.
Monday Morning Message 11.5.2018: A Week to Remember!
“Celebrate what you want to see more of.” – Tom Peters
We continue to be a law school on the rise. This past week was one of the best weeks in our law school’s proud history.
Tomorrow, Election Day, is an important day in the life our nation. I’ll end this message with a few words about that …. but first, our week to remember:
- We had the highest pass rate in Ohio on the July 2018 bar exam!
- We held our very successful 2nd annual Hall of Fame celebration!
- We announced a very generous gift from a distinguished alumnus!
- We hosted Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg!
Monday Morning Message 10.29.2018: We've Got to Stop the Hate
“We’ve got to stop the hate.” - Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, Tree of Life Synagogue
“Evil exists, transcending time, space and the ideologies of the day. The challenge is to answer it with goodness.” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 28, 2018
“I mourn the human beings who were murdered as they participated in the ritual celebrating the miracle of existence, who weren’t able to finish their prayer for the healing of the world.” - Franklin Foer, staff writer, The Atlantic
Monday Morning Message 10.22.2018: Please Join Us This Friday!
“You can be a master, Don't wait for luck. Dedicate yourself and you goin' find yourself, Standing in the hall of fame…. Cause you burn with the brightest flame. And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame.” - See our 2017 C|M|Law Hall of Fame Video (we’ll debut a new video this Friday!)
Monday Morning Message 10.15.2018: Great News. Sobering News. Investing in our Future.
“Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” William Jennings Bryan
“Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.” Winston Churchill
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University is at a unique moment in our 121-year history.
We have had to withstand the headwinds of a national decline in LSAT takers, a national reduction in applicants to law schools, a decline in State of Ohio funding for higher education, high levels of student educational debt, and a challenging legal market.
We are at a crossroads.