Nothing in Kristina Renfro's background indicated that she would be part of Texas A&M University history. A graduate of the University of Texas at Tyler, she spent years in banking before applying to law school at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth. Then, last summer, the day before she was to begin her first year, she found out that the law school was being acquired by Texas A&M.
She was suddenly, and happily, an Aggie.
“I’m part of the first class that will spend all three years at the Texas A&M University School of Law,” said Renfro '16. “It’s historic. What an exciting time to be an Aggie.” Sitting in a classroom in the Fort Worth campus, she is wearing a maroon V-neck T-shirt that says “Aggies A&M Law” and is talking to other students about tailgating parties at football games in College Station.
Her enthusiasm is widely shared. In fact, the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, John Sharp ’72, has long been a proponent of a Texas A&M Law School. “For decades I have dreamed of a law school and in my first few weeks as chancellor, I began meeting with the three private law schools in Texas. This decision will have a profound impact on Texas A&M’s future,” Sharp said.
Kristina Renfro ’16 is excited to be part of the first class that will spend all three years at the A&M School of Law.
Dennis Kelly ’73, who has been on the Texas Wesleyan law school faculty since 1995, practically did backflips when he heard he’d be back in the Aggie fold. “This is a dream come true,” he said, noting that future Aggies won’t have to suffer his fate. He would have gone to law school at Texas A&M, but since the university didn’t have one at the time, he ended up at Texas Tech. “They tried to make a Red Raider out of me,” he said, “but they did not succeed!”
A Good Match
Texas Wesleyan School of Law, founded in 1989, attracted Texas A&M because of its strong legal education and the schools’ shared principles. “There’s a lot of synergy between the values that make Texas A&M special and what has made this law school special,” said Dean Andrew Morriss, who began his new position on July 1 after a nationwide search. For instance, Texas Wesleyan’s law students were required to perform a minimum of 30 hours of pro bono work before graduating (a requisite that will live on). “Service was part of the law school DNA already,” Morriss continued, “and that matches up beautifully with Texas A&M’s framework.”
Also important was the school’s location in Fort Worth since there is no other top-tier public law school in North Texas. In keeping with the university’s land-grant mission, Sharp said, the law school will provide an affordable option in the area. Because Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the top legal and corporate markets in the United States, there are countless possibilities for interactions and jobs with area law firms. “For students to take their first steps as lawyers in the incredibly supportive legal community here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is a great advantage,” said Morriss.
The Fort Worth legal community returns the love. “The Tarrant County Bar Association is thrilled to have the law school of a tier-one university in Fort Worth. Especially because that university is Texas A&M,” said David Keltner, president-elect of the bar association. “Having a nationally recognized university’s law school in Fort Worth will allow access to possibilities we have not previously enjoyed.”
The greatness that many believe is within reach depends on the ability of the school to deliver a legal education that is unique, Morriss pointed out. “The challenge today, in an environment that is very competitive for students, is to convincingly demonstrate to prospective students that we offer something they can’t get somewhere else—that they will be better lawyers because they went to law school here.” Morriss and other Texas A&M officials believe that the core values that set the university apart as a whole—loyalty, integrity, excellence, leadership, respect and selfless service—will also make its law school stand out.
In his efforts, Morriss will draw on the many strengths and resources of Texas A&M University—financial, intellectual and cultural. On its own, the Texas A&M brand has already had a significant impact. Applications this past year—after the Texas A&M acquisition— were up 27 percent from the previous year, even though law school applications are falling on a national level. The priority is recruiting top students because the median LSAT scores and GPAs of the entering class are key factors in national rankings. Morriss recently worked at two law schools—the University of Alabama and the University of Illinois—that made dramatic jumps in national rankings. He has written, studied and consulted on rankings for years. For this reason, university administrators believe they made a solid choice in hiring Morriss. “We feel we have a new dean who will move our national rankings up very quickly,” said Sharp.
The Texas A&M Difference
Among the many ways the law school will attract high-quality students and faculty is by fostering relationships with leading departments in College Station. For instance, with the nation’s top ranked school for petroleum engineering, Texas A&M can bolster the oil and gas legal specialty. “We have opportunities in intellectual property law because Texas A&M is one of the greatest research universities in the country,” said Morriss. “There are also opportunities in national security issues through The Bush School of Government and Public Service. These are opportunities that weren’t available when this was Texas Wesleyan.”
Even in its first year, the law school’s new affiliation has borne fruit. Gabriel Eckstein, who has been on the faculty since 2010, is widely known as an expert on water law, specifically on the rights to aquifers that lie beneath international political boundaries. He has long wanted to chart the location and characteristics of the aquifers on the Texas-Mexico border so that they can be better managed. This past year, he found the perfect collaborator through Texas A&M’s Water Management and Hydrologic Science Program—Dr. Rosario Sanchez Flores. She brings knowledge of hydrological mapping, the Mexican water authority and the Spanish language to the project. “This absolutely would not have happened without the Texas A&M connection,” said Eckstein.
Eckstein is hopeful that with more resources, he and colleagues can develop innovative research projects and attend more conferences that will boost the Texas A&M name even more. He also knows of many opportunities for students to pursue international internships—including in China, France, Israel and Jordan—and hopes that the Texas A&M connection will facilitate these prospects.
Hans Wiedel ’17, a Syracuse University graduate, decided to attend A&M's law school because he was impressed by the willingness of Aggies to reach out to other Aggies.
In addition to the funds committed by the university, building a better law school will require private funding. The law school already received a $1 million gift to create the Anthony G. Buzbee Endowed Dean’s Chair. “The legal profession has been good to me. I wanted to give back, and this dean’s chair was the logical choice,” said Buzbee ’90, a Texas A&M University System regent who earned his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. The funds can be used at the discretion of the dean to advance the standing of the school. “We intend to compete,” Buzbee said. “When the best law schools in Texas and the U.S. are discussed, we will be in that discussion.”
Buzbee’s gift comes with a challenge. “What I’m hoping to do is encourage other Aggies to give money to the law school,” he said, “because we are going to need a healthy endowment for all the things we want to do.” As an incentive for others to follow in Buzbee’s footsteps, the university has initiated a 1-to-1 matching gift program in which contributions to the law school of $25,000 or more will be matched until the school reaches its goal of raising $20 million.
Among Dean Morriss’ priorities are scholarships to attract the highest-caliber students and endowed chairs to expand and strengthen the faculty. The university must also soon decide whether to keep the law school in its current home or to look for another building in downtown Fort Worth. “We are bursting at the seams,” he said.
With the law program so new to the Texas A&M system, there are numerous naming opportunities for donors, including the opportunity to name the whole school.
All Hail the Network
Undoubtedly, another important selling point for attracting the best students is the Aggie network. Law students and recent graduates acknowledge that their job prospects have improved thanks to the Texas A&M connection. “There are a lot of Aggies in the world,” said law student Justin Comeau ’16, “and a lot of Aggies want to hire Aggies.”
Hans Wiedel ’17, a Syracuse University graduate and a former captain in the U.S. Army, decided to attend Texas A&M’s law school because he was impressed by the willingness of Aggies to reach out to other Aggies—or even potential Aggies. “I told one lieutenant colonel I was considering Texas A&M law school after leaving the army,” said Wiedel. “Within a week, a dozen Aggies had encouraged me. Now that the law school is part of Texas A&M, the Aggie network can be vertically integrated. Aggies can have their own lawyers, too.”
Equally important in the effort to set the law school apart is the intangible aspect that Texas A&M offers, a force unmatched by other major universities—spirit. “The whole 12th Man tradition—that willingness to go the extra distance to really succeed, that attitude is what makes someone a great lawyer,” said Morriss, who is well-acquainted with the Aggie spirit even though he’s a New Jersey native who received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Morriss married an Aggie—Dr. Carol Akers ’87—whose family has deep Texas A&M roots. This connection makes his new post all the sweeter.
In his office—painted maroon, naturally—he keeps a treasured photo of his wife’s grandfather, class of 1912, in his Aggie uniform. He also displays his sabre. Pulling it from its sheath, Morriss grinned and, with a flourish, thrust it in front of him. A fitting pose for the leader of a storied university’s law school as it forges ahead.
By Jeannie Ralston
This article was originally published in the fall 2014 issue of Spirit magazine.
Texas A&M Foundation
The Texas A&M Foundation is a nonprofit organization that solicits and manages investments in academics and leadership programs to enhance Texas A&M’s capability to be among the best universities.
You can support the Texas A&M School of Law with a gift of an endowment to the Texas A&M Foundation. For additional information about how to benefit the law school, contact Myke Holt, with the Foundation at (800) 392-3310, (817) 212-4061 or mholt@txamfoundation.com.
