New partnership supports minority and low-income students in attending law school
CONCORD, NH – UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law began a new partnership with the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) and its CLEO Legally Inspired Cohort (CLIC) Fellows program. UNH Franklin Pierce is the fourth law school to join this innovative program that helps students gain access to legal education.
CLEO is a national non-profit organization that was founded in 1968 to expand opportunities for minority and low-income students to attend law school. Since its inception, more than 25,000 students have participated in CLEO's programs and joined the legal profession.
The CLIC Fellows program is a highly competitive, groundbreaking program to identify, recruit, and train law school applicants who possess both the academic aptitude and leadership skills to attend one of CLEO’s partner law schools. Each CLIC Fellow will participate in CLEO’s six-week pre-law summer institute and once enrolled in a partner law school, the Fellows will receive continuous support from CLEO and their partner schools through student mentors and faculty mentors.
“CLEO is very excited to welcome UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law to the ‘CLIC family of law schools!’” said Interim CEO, Leigh Allen II. “Since its 2016 inception, the CLIC program has positively impacted the lives of participating CLEO Fellows and helped pave the way for them to successfully matriculate law school. We sincerely thank Dean Carpenter and all of the school’s faculty and staff for believing in this proven initiative enough to become one of our CLIC school partners and are excited to see a new cohort succeed there later this fall!”
“We are proud to partner with CLEO to increase minority student access to law school,” says Megan Carpenter, dean of UNH Franklin Pierce. “We believe that minority law students are more likely to succeed if they are prepared and supported, and the CLIC Fellows program does just that. UNH Franklin Pierce faculty and staff are excited to welcome our CLIC Fellows in the Fall of 2022.”
The CLIC Fellows program is part of UNH Franklin Pierce’s ongoing commitment to building and sustaining a diverse, equitable, and genuinely inclusive environment for all.
About UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law
Located in Concord, NH, and established in 1973, UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law is committed to fostering diversity and inclusiveness in our school. As a top-100 nationally ranked law school, we recognize that this climate of inclusion is vital to our continued success in attaining the highest quality research, scholarship, teaching, engagement, and all other strategic goals of our school. We accept and welcome the responsibility of teaching and learning in a diverse democracy where social justice serves as a bridge between quality education and civic engagement. For more information, please visit Diversity & Inclusion | University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law (unh.edu).
About the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc.
CLEO, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to diversifying the legal profession by expanding legal education opportunities for persons from traditionally under-represented racial and ethnic groups, low-income, and disadvantaged communities. Founded in 1968, when the number of lawyers of color was less than one percent, CLEO has since had more than 28,000 high school, college prelaw, and law students participate in its programs. CLEO alumni have excelled in every area of the legal profession to include judges, corporate attorneys, law school deans and professors, practitioners, politicians, and more. More information about CLEO and its programs can be found at https://cleoinc.org/
Media Contact
Rachael Lefurge
rachael.lefurge@law.unh.edu
