The facts: On June 13, N.C. State lost its full-time pre-law adviser, Mary Tetro. Dr. Kelly Laraway, director of the short term experimental partnership program (STEP), assumed control of pre-law services after she left.
Our opinion: Though it appeared pre-law services would deteriorate with Tetro’s layoff, Dr. Laraway has done an excellent job in maintaining Tetro’s efforts. Pre-law services should continue in this direction, and other programs should follow its example in sustaining layoffs and budget cuts.
Mary Tetro’s departure was upsetting and sudden, and left many pre-law students concerned about the future of pre-law academic services. A decline in membership of the pre-law student association resulted from Tetro’s departure. However, Dr. Kelly Laraway took the reins of pre-law services, and membership in the pre-law student association has recovered to its previous steady rate. Dr. Laraway made the transition to advising with ease. She has continued to provide the same type of legal advice and assistance to pre-law students, with emails ranging from how to handle multiple LSATs to internship opportunities. Because of Dr. Laraway’s primary position as director of the STEP program at N.C. State, she is in the unique position of being able to provide internship opportunities which relate to law directly to pre-law students. Much of Dr. Laraway’s emails include opportunities to apply to various programs and internships. Application reviewers on law school boards always press the importance of embarking on a legal experience and Dr. Laraway definitely provides opportunities for students to do so. She also provides links to test preparation sessions and seminars with current law students. The Law School Fair, originally created by Tetro, was run by Laraway this year with incredible success. The law fair had great attendance, according to Dan Rowe, the president of the pre-law student association. More than 88 law schools attended the fair with representatives spending four hours answering each and every question about their school. Free waivers for applying to certain schools were distributed, saving students around $70 per school if applying. Overall, the law fair was a giant success and garnered a very comparable result to previous years. Aside from the opportunity to converse directly with associates of the schools to which students wished to apply, Laraway arranged various classes which occurred during the law school fair. These classes were geared directly towards other concerns students held about applying to law school, with a course on writing personal statements and a course on LSAT strategy. N.C. State lost 15.1 percent of state funding this year, which resulted in the loss of 753 administrative and faculty positions, a decrease in services, lesser course sections, and fewer class seats. The current financial situation has left State and other universities fighting to save the most pertinent programs and services and reducing those deemed not as important. Mary Tetro was an unfortunate casualty of this situation, and it is encouraging that, despite her leave, another faculty member has taken control of the program and kept it above water. Dr. Laraway has not only kept the program running, but has also continued to provide students counsel and opportunities with the same level of dedication as exhibited previously by Tetro. Other programs at N.C. State which suffered cuts and reductions should learn from Dr. Laraway’s example. Though their services may not receive the same level of support as previously granted, financially or otherwise, these services can still stay alive and thrive. As long as faculty continues to show dedication and interest, the services will continue to provide counsel and assistance for students.
