Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law honored 132 graduates during its commencement ceremony on May 10 at BB&T Arena. Chase awarded 123 Juris Doctor Degrees, seven Masters of Legal Studies and two LLMs in United States Law to the graduating class.
Ann G. Schoen of Frost Brown Todd LLC served as the commencement speaker for the graduating class. Schoen earned her Juris Doctor from Chase College of Law in 1994 and has served as a member of the Chase College of Law Board of Visitors since 2004. She is also an adjunct professor at Chase, teaching Patent Law.
Interim Dean Michael Whiteman presented the annual Salmon P. Chase award to Erik Crew, a social justice activist. Crew began Chase in the part-time J.D. program while working as the Ohio Justice and Policy Center communications manager. Erik went on to do a semester-in-practice in New York City with the Center for Constitutional Rights. After graduation, Erik has been accepted into a prestigious two-year fellowship with the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.
“Erik’s focus on tackling social justice issues is inspiring, and I’m pleased to present him with the Salmon P. Chase Award,” said interim Dean Whiteman. “We are proud to award Chase degrees to all our graduates and look forward to seeing them become leaders in the legal profession.”
Chase College of Law offers full-time and part-time programs of study, and has an enrollment of about 400 students on the NKU campus. In addition to traditional classes, students can participate in the college’s W. Bruce Lunsford Academy for Law, Business + Technology, designed to prepare them for multi-discipline approaches to practicing law, and can gain practical experience in clinical programs in which they work with actual clients. Classes in the part-time evening division meet two evenings a week and some half-day Saturdays to allow students to balance careers and studies or to commute from outside Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.
