The recent trouble in the Columbia Law School, caused by the resignation of Warden Theodore W. Dwight and his associates, Professor Chase and Professor Petty, has resulted in the formation of a new school. Ever since his connection with the college, President Low has been trying to bring about a change in the present system of teaching. This change has proved unpopular with professors as well as with students, for several reasons. This rearrangement of hours practically prohibits students in law offices from taking the course. It also leaves a large number of men in the midst of their studies with no opportunity of completing them. Another and far more important reason is the change in the method of instruction. The distinctive feature of the Colnmbia Law School has been the Dwight method of teaching. This method is grounded on the principle that law must be taught by vividly impressing upon the student's mind the reasons upon which legal rules and doctrines are based and, by so instructing him, that he will view law as a system of principle, not as a mere aggregation of cases. To accomplish this, the student commits to memory from day to day suitable portions of a treatise upon some particular legal topic written by an expert on the subject. The professor then seeks, from his own experience and learning, to explain whatever difficulties may have been encountered in the study of the treatise. In place of this method the Columbia faculty has introduced a system which resembles more closely that of the Harvard Law School. The student is put at once to the study of cases and is left to deduce for himself the principles involved.
The location of the new school will be within easy reach of those who are studying in law offices.
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