Downsizing Higher Education and Derailing Student Educational Objectives: When Should Student Claims for Program Closures Succeed
![handle is hein.journals/geolr33 and id is 173 raw text is: DOWNSIZING HIGHER EDUCATION AND
DERAILING STUDENT EDUCATIONAL
OBJECTIVES: WHEN SHOULD STUDENT
CLAIMS FOR PROGRAM CLOSURES
SUCCEED?
Hazel G. Beh*
It is, sir, as I have said, a small college, and yet
there are those who love it.'
I. INTRODUCTION
A few years ago, while the State of Hawaii was enduring a
substantial fiscal crisis, some officials publicly suggested that the
Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii consider closing
certain professional schools, including the state's only law school,
as a cost-saving measure.2 Law students were understandably
concerned.3 However, the threat had an unanticipated educational
value for first-year contracts students as they found themselves
well-equipped with the tools for a sound legal analysis of their
potential legal claims.
* Hazel Glenn Beh, Assistant Professor of Law, William S. Richardson School of Law,
University of Hawaii. The author thanks Marc Garren for his preliminary research and
Professors Karen Gebbia Pinetti, Randall Roth, Jon Van Dyke and Eric Yamamoto for
thoughtful suggestions.
Daniel Webster, Dartmouth College Case (1818), quoted in JOHN BARTLETT, FAMILIAR
QUOTATIONS, at 394 (16th ed. 1992) [hereinafter FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS].
2 See Mary Adamski, Fans of UH's Law School Urged to Rally, HONOLULU STAR-
BULLETIN, Oct. 28, 1995, at A4 ('The possibility that state budget woes will force closure of
the school along with other University of Hawaii professional and graduate programs has
been raised.).
3 University students and faculty (including law students) marched to the state capital
to protest threatened cuts to the university budget. See Pat Omandam, UH Protestors To
March Over State Budget Fright, HONOLULU STAR-BuLLETIN, Oct. 26,1995, at Al (describing
planned Death of Education march to protest budget cutbacks and threatened school's
programs).
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