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Rutgers students and faculty protest merger into Rowan University

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Current students at Rutgers School of Law-Camden will graduate with a degree from Rutgers even if a proposed merger of their school into Rowan University takes place, the school’s board of governors decided.

Law students had been concerned the merger would hurt their employment chances — as the Rowan name is not known widely outside of New Jersey. But students and faculty are still upset with the proposed merger.

“Everyone I know is upset at some level,” said Steve Williamson, a Rutgers law student. “People are proud to go to Rutgers. And people will lose that legacy if they merge it out of existence.”

The New Jersey state school has been under a cloud of controversy ever since a state task force proposed merging the two state universities in southern New Jersey. Rowan University is a former teachers college that became a university in 1997. It was renamed to Rowan in 1992, after it received a $100 million dollar donation from Henry Rowan. The school has improved its academic reputation a lot over the past 20 years, but is not nearly as well known or respected as Rutgers.

“The faculty came here because we wanted to work at a law school of a major state university,” said John Oberdiek, a professor at Rutgers School of Law. “If we are folded into Rowan and lose the Rutgers connection, we are no longer a law school of a major research university. We are a law school of a fledgling former teachers college that has high hopes.”

Proponents for the merger say it will bring more money into the higher educational system in that part of the state. But a vast majority of New Jersey residents, and almost everyone at Rutgers School of Law-Camden, oppose the merger.

New Jersey’s Governor, Chris Christie, has said he supports the merger recommendation and would like it implemented by July. But few people are aware what exactly that means, and there is an assumption that a lot more research needs to be done.

“They announced the proposal but gave no timeline,” Williamson said. “Our biggest concern right now, after the initial emotions and shock, is that there is no ethos or credibility to the report. Right now we are trying to wrap our heads around the factual basis for the plan.”

Oberdiek, who spoke at a board of governors meeting on the matter, said the proposal does not take seriously the damage that it could cause to the reputation of the law school.

“It is an extraordinary high price to pay and I am skeptical that we would see the funds that the proponents envision,” he said.

New Jersey’s Governor, Chris Christie, has said he supports the merger recommendation and would like it implemented by July. But few people are aware what exactly that means, and there is an assumption that a lot more research needs to be done.


 

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