Half of Lakehead University’s charter law class comes from Northern Ontario.
“That’s exactly what we want,” said Lee Stuesser, founding dean of the local law school.
With classes set to start in 45 days, the law school is gearing up for its first class of about 55 students.
Those students come from various areas, but the majority is from Northwestern and Northeastern Ontario., which Stuesser said is the school’s mandate.
Fifteen per cent are from small towns in the province; another 10 per cent are from smaller centres throughout Canada and 15 per cent hail from the Greater Toronto Area.
The school is also welcoming seven Aboriginal students.
Stuesser said he’s happy with the number of Aboriginal students they have this year, but they do hope to see more in the future.
More than 1,100 people applied to the school and Stuesser said they looked through every application thoroughly.
Geography was a factor when choosing from the applicants.
“The key thing is just because you are born and raised in Thunder Bay or Northwestern Ontario doesn’t give you a free ticket to law school,” he said, noting they looked at grade point average, law school admission test scores and what other activities students are involved in.
They specifically looked for people who not only wanted to come to Lakehead, but also wanted to stay in a smaller city.
Stuesser believes the school’s focus on aboriginal, environmental and resource law also helped attract potential students.
And although classes haven’t started yet, Stuesser said they already gearing up for next year’s admissions. The deadline to apply is Nov. 1.
