The Appalachian School of Law (ASL) will survive. After a year that included the most devastating tragedies imaginable, the dedication of the faculty, staff, and students has ensured the success of the institution. Applications have increased more than twenty-five percent over last year, and admissions are up. We have hired six new highly qualified full-time faculty members and two visiting faculty members. The three students who were injured have recovered and are doing well academically. We continue to work toward full ABA accreditation, having received provisional accreditation in February 2001. Although we all hope that nothing like this will ever happen again, the lessons learned by ASL, and the example set by ASL, may help another school when faced with a similar tragedy.
On Wednesday, January 16, 2002, former student Peter Odighizuwa shot and killed Dean L. Anthony Sutin, Professor Thomas F. Blackwell, and a first-year student, Angela Dales. Odighizuwa also shot and injured three other female students. This news spread rapidly throughout the community of American law schools, which reacted with horror, grief, then support, assistance, and empathy. All classes were cancelled until the following week.