Dickinson Law News

October 6, 2021 — The Penn State Dickinson Law community lost Joe Harenza last week. Joe passed away peacefully on September 29. Read more

September 23, 2021 — Third-year Penn State Dickinson Law student Ryan Marr believes in taking advantage of opportunities that come his way. From studying in Tanzania to traveling to Bermuda, he says “yes” to any chance to see the world or learn something new. So when he was invited to participate in a project mapping an unexplored patch of the ocean floor with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Marr quickly signed up. Full story

September 22, 2021 — Second-year student Ezza Ahmed (Class of 2023) enrolled at Penn State Dickinson Law because she wanted to give back to her community by practicing law. When she learned of an opportunity to give back immediately, while she continues her education, she felt compelled to sign up. Ahmed is one of three students at Dickinson Law, along with fellow second-year law students Aranda Stathers (Class of 2023) and Aria Plants (Class of 2023), sworn in earlier this month as Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) in Cumberland County. Learn more

September 8, 2021 — Over the past 15 months, Penn State Dickinson Law led law schools across the country in creating and sharing antiracist scholarship and introduced a new antiracist curriculum. Encouraging more students of color to attend law school is a critical aspect of combating systemic inequality and promoting antiracism, and Dickinson Law is leading by example on this as well. Read more

August 30, 2021 — Second-year Dickinson Law students Anthony Fernando and Seth Trott were recognized as the third-place winners in the Center for Legal and Court Technology’s (CLCT) Fourth Annual Artificial Intelligence (AI) Writing Competition. Their co-authored article, “My Pet Car? Assigning Liability When Artificial Intelligence Causes Harm,” explains how the U.S. legal system might assign liability when a highly autonomous product causes harm. Learn more

August 30, 2021 — In 1844, Macon Bolling Allen became the first African American person licensed to practice law in the U.S. After passing the bar in Maine, Allen struggled to find clients in the predominantly white state. He later moved to Boston and became the nation’s first Black judicial office holder. Full story

August 4, 2021 — Pennsylvania is experiencing accelerating COVID-19 case counts across the state, and as of today, August 4, 2021, Penn State Dickinson Law is in an area of substantial (orange) transmission per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker. Effective immediately, masking will be required indoors for all vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals on the Dickinson Law campus in Cumberland county, in accordance with the latest CDC guidelines. Learn more

July 27, 2021 — Greg Bayles sees his role in simple terms. Penn State Dickinson Law’s new assistant director of development helps people determine where and how they want to make an impact. He loves speaking with alumni about ways to contribute to the sustained success of Dickinson Law. Learn more

July 27, 2021 — A few years ago, class of 1962 alum John W. Blasko received a letter from a student attending Penn State Dickinson Law. The young man had been awarded the John W. Blasko Scholarship, and he wanted to thank Blasko’s firm, McQuaide Blasko, for endowing the award. He explained what a difference the scholarship had made in his ability to prioritize his studies. Learn more

July 13, 2021 — Sara Gerke, assistant professor of law, was named a 2021 Health Law Scholar by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics and Saint Louis University School of Law Center for Health Law Studies. Learn more