Texas A&M Affiliation With Law School Denied

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HOUSTON

Texas A&M University should drop its affiliation
with the private South Texas College of Law and instead get permission
to establish its own law school, higher education officials say.

“A&M cannot have a law school at this time,” said Leonard
Rauch, chairman of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. “I
know they think they have a law school. But they have gone around the
coordinating board and they need our permission.”

Texas A&M and South Texas officials signed a deal in January
giving A&M a law school without building or buying one, while
giving South Texas faculty and graduates better name recognition
without moving the school from downtown Houston. A&M officials had
told Rauch and other coordinating board members about the negotiations.

University officials also planned to ask the coordinating board for
permission to issue law degrees, meaning South Texas diplomas could
bear the A&M seal.

But Rauch said late last month that the terms of the A&M-South
Texas alliance should have been approved by his board before the law
school started calling itself South Texas College of Law of Texas
A&M University and used that name in advertisements

Officials at Texas A&M are considering the wishes of Rauch and
others, according to Barry Thompson, A&M system chancellor.

“The talks are in a fragile state,” Thompson said, “but we’re not
going to violate any laws. We intend to proceed to some kind of
accommodation so that we are within the lines.”

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