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VOLUME 10 No. I
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
NOVEMBER, 1966
BAR PRESIDENT ADDRESSES INCOMING FRESHMEN
Speech Is Climax Of Two
Day Orientation Program
"Without a bar trained in the traditions of courage, independence and loyalty, our constitutional theories of individual liberty would cease to be a living
reality. All citizens should realize the importance played in a democracy by persuasion as distinguished from force or
threats and should recognize the importance of the lawyer as a trained advocate
of persuasion."
With these words of warning and encouragement, Fletcher G. Rush, President of the Florida Bar, brought to a
close a two-day orientation period for
incoming freshmen. The occasion was a
dinner in the Great Hall of the College,
Saturday, September 9. Nearly 300 persons, including 120 newly-enrolled students, were present.
In a Saturday afternoon session, John
W. Rowe, Clearwater attorney and a
member of the Florida Board of Bar
Examiners, explained the procedural
steps leading to admission to the Florida
Bar Examination.
Other sessions on the two-day pro-.
gram included a welcome by Dean Har-
(Continued on Page 7)
Left to right: George Miller, Co-Chairman of Orientation Program; Fletcher G. Rush, President
of the Florida Bar; and J. Ron Smith, President of the Student Bar Association.
Entering Class Selected From 450 Applicants;
Stetson, Florida State Grads Most Numerous
Stetson College of Law began its 67th year of operation, and its 13th on the
St. Petersburg campus, Monday morning, September 12. Mrs. Kay Eddy, Registrar, has announced an opening day registration of 298, including a record total
of 120 freshmen and transfer students.
For the statistically minded, it is noted that the student body represents 92
colleges and universities from 30 states,
Canada and Mexico. Thirty-eight of the
registrants are graduates of the parent
University in DeLand, and of this number, 16 are in the entering class.
The school represented by the greatest number of graduates, however, is
Florida State University. Forty-six ex-
Seminoles are now members of the Stetson family. Interestingly enough, 15 are
freshmen, although Florida State now
has a law school of its own.
Admission Standards
LSAT scores for freshmen average
considerably over 500, and many of the
new students were at or near the top
of their class in undergraduate school.
Ten of them are at the College of Law
on tuition scholarships, awarded on the
basis of academic achievement and
financial need. All, of course, had to
earn a baccalaureate degree or its
equivalent as a prerequisite to admission. They were selected from a list of
more than 450 applicants. Without ben
efit of a computer, it is predicted that
approximately 70% will receive a Juris
Doctor degree within three years, or
somewhat less if they choose to attend
summer sessions, and that of this number 97.6% will pass the Florida Bar
examination on their first attempt.
Times Have Changed
As a well-known news commentator
would say, "And that's the way it is in
1966." When the writer, a member of
the faculty and himself a graduate of
the College of Law, is observed sitting
in the library, eyelids closed and head
in hands, it should not be hastily assumed
that he has fallen asleep over a volume
of the Supreme Court Reporter. Perhaps, overwhelmed by the evidence of
intellectual activity around him, he is
simply giving humble thanks that chance
permitted him to apply for admission to
Stetson in an era when transcripts were
only scanned, not studied.
Left to right: Joe Reiter, Co-Chairman of Orientation Program; John W. Rowe, Florida Board
of Bar Examiners.
