Class of 2011 Gets Oriented to Vermont
August 20, 2008
Photo by Stefan HardThe Class of 2011 taking a break on the State House steps.
From the dais of the House chamber, Gov. Jim Douglas looked out over nearly 200 first-year VLS students who filled the creaking wooden seats and he extolled the virtues of Vermont’s part-time, citizen legislature.
“I think it’s a real value,” said the governor, who began his own political career as a state representative straight out of Middlebury College. “Folks here have to go back to their community and live with the laws they enact.”
While many law students may view law through the prism of judges, lawyers and courtrooms, the Class of 2011 spent a day during Orientation Week seeing law through the eyes of those who write and enact the statutes. In addition to the governor, the 1Ls heard from House Speaker Gaye Symington, the Legislative Council’s Michael Chernick (VLS JD ’91), and other legislative leaders from both sides of the political aisle.
Rep. Alison Clarkson of Woodstock, who occupies Seat 46 when the legislature is in session, took a moment to explain her personal connection with VLS before introducing House Speaker Symington.
“I’m especially thrilled to be with you,” said an animated Rep. Clarkson, “because I’m married to one of your professors!” (That would be Professor Oliver Goodenough). Like the governor, she urged the incoming class to vote and be engaged in the political system in Vermont.
“This is your State House. It’s a very open place,” she said, pitching internships and other opportunities for the law students to involve themselves in drafting legislation.
The 1Ls also heard from Justice John Dooley, who took a break from the day’s docket at the neighboring Vermont Supreme Court to speak about budget pressures and other challenges now facing Vermont’s judiciary.
In closing out his remarks, Gov. Douglas made a pitch for the law students to consider staying in Vermont after they graduate. He noted that Vermont, with its low birth rate, has the second-oldest population of any state in the nation.
He also noted that his own legal counsel, Suzanne Young, is a VLS graduate (JD ’81) who has served with him since he first took office in 2002. (She earlier served as deputy state treasurer when he was state treasurer, and as assistant attorney general before that).
“This is the greatest place to live and work and raise a family,” the governor told the law students, “but we do have to make sure that our demographic challenges are met.”
The demographics for the VLS Class of 2011 (JD) are as follows:
Entering class size: 191
Female: 50.3 percent
Male: 49.7 percent
Students of color: 25 (13 percent)
Average age: 26
States and territories represented: 44
Other nations represented: 5
Undergraduate institutions: 133
VLS total full-time enrollment: 592
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