Saturday, May 17, 2008
YOUNGSTOWN — Charles J. Bannon recalls, when he graduated from the Youngstown College of Law in 1957, about one-third of the lawyers practicing in Mahoning County were graduates of that same school.
“Academically, it was a great law school. I felt badly when it closed,” said Bannon, 79, now a retired common pleas judge. “It was a big deal around here.”
The school, part of what would eventually become Youngstown State University, had a major impact on the local legal field and offered a truly significant service to the community, Bannon said, adding that its closing in the 1960s was a loss to the legal community.
The YMCA’s decision to begin offering college-level courses in commercial law in 1908 was the unofficial start of the law school. YSU traces its own its beginnings to that program and that year; 2008 is being celebrated as the university’s centennial.
Meeting community educational needs has always been a priority for YSU, an open access institution, said Dr. David C. Sweet, YSU president.
Read more in Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com