FORT WORTH -- Texas A&M University is finally getting a law school -- a field that generations of Aggies have wanted to be listed under their school brand.
The university plans to buy the Texas Wesleyan School of Law for about $25 million. The school in downtown Fort Worth will be called the Texas A&M School of Law at Texas Wesleyan University.Texas Wesleyan President Frederick G. Slabach and A&M System Chancellor John Sharp said the universities aim to work together to build a top-tier law school that draws students from across the nation. The school has about 674 students."This is something, that for my entire adult life, I have been hearing about as a dream," Sharp said. "It's about the only professional school we don't have."Texas Wesleyan trustees have approved a letter of intent that enables a partnership with A&M. The Texas A&M board of regents is expected to take up the matter during a teleconference Friday.If the agreement is finalized as proposed, the transition will be official by June 2013. That would move the Fort Worth institution closer to becoming the first public law school in North Texas.The University of North Texas System is also scheduled to open a law school in fall 2014 in downtown Dallas to be called the UNT at Dallas College of Law. Recruitment of UNT law students won't start until fall 2013. Southern Methodist University, a private institution in University Park, also has a law school.Details of the dealUnder the agreement, all faculty and staff of the law school will become A&M employees. Texas Wesleyan retains ownership and control of the law school building and four blocks at the downtown campus.Texas Wesleyan will lease the facilities to A&M for $2.5 million a year for 40 years, Sharp said. A&M plans to use its endowment and private donations to buy the law school, he said.Sharp said this allows A&M to open a law a school at a much lower cost. He estimated that building a law school from the ground up would cost up to $200 million.The influx of money will help Texas Wesleyan invest in programs and revitalization plans, Slabach said, explaining that it will be placed in the university's endowment, which is just shy of $20 million. Its current budget, which includes the law school, is about $60 million.Texas Wesleyan, which bought the law school in 1992 and opened its downtown campus in 1997, has considered selling the law school in the past. In 2002, the University of North Texas and Texas Christian University expressed interest in buying it; TCU reportedly offered about $35 million. Wesleyan's asking price was about $60 million.Key to the A&M plan was Sharp's desire to create "a true collaborative partnership" with two joint programs: a juris doctor/master of business administration program and a "three plus three" program, Slabach said. The latter would let students earn undergraduate and law degrees in six years."This is very, very important to us," Slabach said.The law school will be part of Texas A&M University in College Station and not a satellite campus. Sharp and others said they want the law school to be directly connected to the top-tier institution overseen by President R. Bowen Loftin.Loftin and Slabach, the former dean of the Texas Wesleyan Law School, will appoint a coordinating council to advise the universities on additional academic efforts."This is a very unique and creative idea that John brought to us," said Slabach, adding that the process started in October and essentially ended Friday.Tuition at the school has not been determined, Sharp said, adding that the project will also need approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the American Bar Association. But he said he has been working with the board and doesn't anticipate any problems.Sharp and Slabach said similar partnerships exist elsewhere in the U.S., such as one between Penn State and the Dickinson School of Law.Aggies delightedIn the halls of the law school, some students said they had heard rumors about the school becoming a part of the "Aggie Nation." Some students with undergraduate degrees from A&M began calling themselves "Double Aggies.""I'm really excited," said Lianna Grissom, a second year law student who graduated from A&M last year. "Having two A&M degrees on my wall would make me very, very happy."Paul Elkins, another Aggie who is studying law at Texas Wesleyan, said it is exciting to be part of this moment in A&M history."I came to TWU because I wanted to be in Fort Worth," Elkins said. "Now, I'm getting the best of both worlds."Sharp said A&M is expanding its brand into the field of law with a focus on emerging fields, including patent law for science research.An A&M law school has long been an ambition of many Aggie supporters, Sharp said."I love it," said Judge Joe Spurlock II, a Texas Wesleyan law professor, former lawmaker and member of the A&M class of 1960. "We tried this in the 1970s and we couldn't get it done."Spurlock said that at the time Texas had an Aggie speaker of the House, 13 Aggie members of the House and about six Aggie state senators."We had no power," Spurlock said. "Power came later."Tarrant County state District Judge David Evans, a member of the A&M class of 1971, said the partnership is a tremendous opportunity for the two institutions."It's a great opportunity for A&M and Texas Wesleyan and for the region," Evans said. "They will work together and they will produce quality lawyers who will be very able and have high ethical standards."Attorney Neal Adams of the Grapevine firm Adams, Lynch and Loftin said this effort has been a long time coming. Aggies like him (he was in the class of 1968) didn't have their alma mater as a law school option; he attended Baylor Law School."My passion in life, since about 2000, was that Texas A&M University -- as a Tier One university -- needed a law school in this state," Adams said. "A&M took its time. We are in the right place at the right time with the right partners."This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.Diane Smith, 817-390-7675Twitter: @dianestar