Since it dropped dramatically in the ranks last semester, the USC School of Law has been in a bit of a static state.
The school clearly needs a lot of repairs to its holey roofs and shabby walls, and USC has been trying to think of ways to bring the law school back up to par. But it’s already been seven months or so since a disparaging report from a national panel was delivered, and all we’ve seen are promises.
Right now, we have $14 million with which to fix our depressing law school. However, renovating the facilities would take $30 million. Building new ones would take $80 million. Whatever we choose to do, the fact remains that as of now, we don’t even have half of what it would take to do it.
But the money for these projects come straight from various donors, and donors have been hesitant to donate because the university does not even have a concrete plan right now. The allocation of the money and how we choose to spend it is still not clear enough to convince people that their donations will be put effectively to good use.
The clocks are ticking, and time is running out. It’s never easy to plan a large project — especially one that needs as much attention as this one — and finding a starting point is often the hardest task. But we have faith that the university will be able to draw up concrete plans soon and decide which course of action to take. The well-being of our law school now depends on a quick decision, and we’d like to believe the university can make this quick decision.
The new dean of the law school will arrive soon. Let’s just make sure the roof isn’t still leaky when he or she does.