Sturm College of Law News
DU Law Hosts CLEO Summer Institute
July 25, 2008
When DU Law was selected to host the national Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Summer Institute this year, in many ways, the program was returning home. CLEO, now a renowned and multi-faced program that reaches out to law student hopefuls from diverse backgrounds, originally stemmed from the Ford Foundation Grant started by Dean Emeritus Robert Yegge many years ago. The American Bar Association eventually took the program over and in 1968 founded CLEO as a non-profit project of the ABA Fund for Justice and Education.
The CLEO Summer Institute, a six-week pre-law program held at rotating law school campuses across the country, is the core of CLEO’s programming. Graduating college seniors and recent graduates from diverse backgrounds either interested in or slated to attend law school, participate in a mini-semester of legal courses taught by experienced instructors. Students attend classes, guest speaker lectures and participate in networking events with local law firms and state and federal courts during their six week stay. At the end of the institute, students are given a final exam and evaluated and issued a final grade. “We are honored to host the prestigious CLEO Summer Institute at DU Law,” said Forrest Stanford, associate dean for administration and multi-cultural affairs. “It further solidifies the law school’s commitment to diversity.”
The institute is designed to prepare participants to be more competitive law students by introducing them to rigorous legal curriculum while acclimating them to the law school environment. Nearly all CLEO graduates eventually matriculate into law schools across the country and go on to enjoy successful legal careers.
Friday, July 25 marked the “graduation” of the DU Law CLEO Summer Institute. The law school held a ceremony and luncheon during which Dean Juárez spoke to the class and participants received certificates of completion.