September 10- Events commemorate Stetson Law’s 50 years in Gulfport
Contact Frank Klim
Executive Director of Communications
(727) 562-7889
Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law is inviting the Tampa Bay community to help celebrate its Golden Anniversary at its Gulfport campus. An array of free events is planned spanning the next three months.
“Stetson is excited to celebrate 50 years at our magnificent campus in Gulfport, 50 years of volunteering and working with the Tampa Bay community, and more than a century of producing outstanding lawyers, judges and community leaders,” said Dean Darby Dickerson.
Festivities kicked off this week with the first of four screenings of films connected with Stetson. The first, Gideon’s Trumpet chronicles the case of Gideon v. Wainwright, in which Stetson Dean Emeritus Bruce Jacob represented the state of Florida before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Golden Anniversary weekend will be the focus of the celebration. Events on Saturday, Sept. 18, from noon to 4 p.m. include walking tours of the Gulfport campus, which was once home to the Hotel Rolyat and the Florida Military Academy; free trolley rides around campus and Gulfport; plus an exhibit of classic cars from 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.
The film series and a history lecture series will continue through November.
Golden Anniversary special presentations (all free and open to the public):
Sept. 18: Classic Car Exhibit, noon to 4 p.m., Stetson parking lot
Walking Campus Tours and trolley rides, noon to 4 p.m.
Sept. 22: Film Series: The Strange One (filmed on Stetson’s campus), 7 p.m., Great Hall
Oct. 5: Lecture Series: History of Gulfport by author Lynn Brown, noon, Great Hall
Oct. 13: Film Series: Judgment at Nuremberg, 7 p.m., Great Hall
Oct. 27: Film Series: A Deadly Business, 7 p.m., Great Hall
Nov. 9: Lecture Series: Panel Discussion on Architectural History of College of Law, noon, Great Hall
Stetson University opened Florida’s first law school in 1900 in DeLand. The first classes at the Gulfport campus took place on Sept. 20, 1954. The move was spurred by growth following World War II and to be near the Tampa Bay legal community.
Today, the College of Law’s curriculum includes international programs; one of the nation’s top-ranked trial advocacy programs (placing first in six of the nine annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report); and recognized programs in advocacy, elder law and international law and business. The College is also a leader in the field of higher education law and policy. In January, Stetson opened the Tampa Law Center to house evening law classes, the Tampa branch of the Florida Second District Court of Appeal and continuing legal education programs.
Post date: Sept. 10, 2004
Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
[email protected] | 727-430-1580