Ave Maria Law School, Revisited

Chronicle of Higher Education
May 10, 2007

Conflict Over Relocation Divides a Catholic Law School, as Professors Say They Have Been Cut Out of the Decision

By KATHERINE MANGAN

A mutiny may be brewing at a Roman Catholic law school whose board has voted to pack it up and move it from Ann Arbor, Mich., to a rural community in southwestern Florida.

More than half of the professors at the Ave Maria School of Law are fighting the move to Ave Maria, Fla., the town being created by Thomas S. Monaghan, the former Domino's Pizza mogul who founded the law school eight years ago.

Critics, including many alumni and students, say the move to the Catholic-oriented town between Naples and Immokalee, Fla., would jeopardize the independent law school's progress. They accuse Mr. Monaghan of moving a successful law school to prop up a struggling university in a town that has already attracted controversy. A spokesman for Ave Maria said Mr. Monaghan was not available for comment.

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