Seattle University School of Law - History

History

A feasibility study conducted by University of Puget Sound in 1971 revealed that Western Washington was the largest metropolitan area in the United States served by a single law school (University of Washington School of Law). Consequently, on December 20, 1971, the University of Puget Sound Board of Trustees voted to establish a school of law. Three weeks later, they announced the appointment of Joseph Sinclitico as the School of Law's first dean. Dean Sinclitico arranged to rent facilities in the new Benaroya Business Park on South Tacoma Way and hired Anita Steele to build a 50,000-volume library. He had a brochure printed up, hoping to entice 335 students to enroll for classes in the fall. Less than eight months later, on September 5, 1972, 427 students showed up for the first day of classes. Six months after the opening of classes, the law school made history when it received provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association in record time. Judge George Boldt, chairman of the school's first Board of Visitors, summed up the excitement shared by faculty and students alike: "All of us feel that creation of the school has been nothing short of a miracle."