Texas A&M University can officially begin the process of buying the Texas Wesleyan Law School after a unanimous vote by A&M System regents Friday.
The Texas A&M System regents voted 8-0 to authorize a nonbinding letter of intent that continues discussions between the university system and Wesleyan for the purchase of the downtown Fort Worth law school.The university plans to buy the law school for about $25 million. The school will be called the Texas A&M School of Law at Texas Wesleyan University.The universities are working on a partnership described as mutually beneficial. A&M gets a long-awaited law school. Wesleyan gets to collaborate with a top-tier university on academic programs and boost its endowment."We are very excited to begin this partnership," Wesleyan President Frederick G. Slabach said after the vote was announced.Slabach said remaining steps include A&M's and Wesleyan's applications for accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the American Bar Association. A&M will also have get the approval of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board."All of these things are working on a parallel track," Slabach said, adding that the aim is to complete the process by June 2013.A&M System Chancellor John Sharp said they have the official green light to move forward. Donations and the system's endowment will pay for the law school.Sharp said they raised about $1 million Tuesday after announcing the project."I'm telling you, Aggie Nation is very excited about this," Sharp said.Texas A&M University President R. Bowen Loftin is expected to start the application to the Coordinating Board on Monday.The letter of intent is described as the basis for more negotiations between the universities. Among details outlined is the acquisition of the Wesleyan Law School for $25 million. A&M agrees to pay $20 million to Wesleyan at closing and the rest within five years of closing.A&M will sign a 40-year lease for the facility for $2.5 million a year. A&M and Wesleyan will partner in undergraduate, graduate and legal education programs. They will establish a "3 plus 3" program that enables students to graduate with an undergraduate and a law degree in six years.The institutions are also committing to a joint master's of business administration-juris doctor program and the creation of a strategic academic partnership coordinating council for co-curricular and extracurricular activities.An A&M law school has been a long dream of Aggies, Sharp said, adding that he has heard about the goal since he was 22. This projects aims to educate all types of lawyers but aims at world-class excellence in patent law tied to scientific and engineering breakthroughs.Diane Smith, (817) 390-7675Twitter: @dianestarHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
