Dreams Will Come True, Students Can Now Earn a J.D. Degree at

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featureYour Gifts Are Important to CooleyBy Thomas M. Garikes, Director of DevelopmentWhy is your gift important?Since 1972, the faculty and staff of CooleyLaw School have led the way in the classroom,research, and administration.Cooley’s academic tradition of excellencecontinues to teach students the knowledge,skills, and ethics needed to be a success inthe law and a valuable member of society.Cooley has developed a legal education curriculumand program designed to prepareits students for the practice of law throughexperienced-based teaching lawyer skills.Tomorrow’s leaders learn from today’s leaders, and itis vitally important to support the education of ournext generation of leaders.Students learn to apply legal theory to situationsthey may encounter as practicing attorneys. Aspart of Cooley’s Professionalism Plan, Cooleystudents are also taught the professionalismprinciples adopted by the Cooley Law Schoolcommunity.Cooley is also committed to providing a legaleducation to people from all walks of life.Cooley is proud of its diverse national andinternational student body where students,through fair and objective admission policies,have the opportunity to learn the law.Cooley is a young law school, and participationis key to building a tradition of philanthropy.Every gift makes a difference. It is yourparticipation and giving, year after year, thatis important. When more of Cooley’s alumniand friends give, it demonstrates to prospectivestudents, employers, and donors thatthose people who are closest to the law schoolvalue Cooley’s contribution to their lives, trustin its leadership, and believe in its future.Each year, alumni and friends express theirloyalty and interests in the people and programsof Cooley Law School. The financialcontributions of graduates and friends ofCooley Law School support the nextgeneration of attorneys, judges, electedofficials, public interest law providers,corporate leaders, and entrepreneurs whileenhancing the legal profession as a whole.Private support of a private institution ismore than a tradition — it is critical toincreasing the stature of Cooley Law School.Providing for the future requires greaterresources than tuition alone.The support by graduates and others for thecommon good is one of the most vital principlesof our society and our legal community.Support for private education must increaseif the next generation of lawyers is to be ableto serve the community and the profession.Philanthropy, so distinctly American,improves the human condition. Philanthropicsupport of education immeasurably benefitseveryone. Your support of Cooley LawSchool is key to our quest of providing a highquality legal education to all our students.Tomorrow’s leaders learn from today’s leaders,and it is vitally important to support theeducation of our next generation of leaders.“One person can make a difference, and everyperson must.” President John F. KennedyA Special GiftThe Melissa MitchellMemorial ScholarshipFund is now a reality.The future is indeed bright, and we aregrateful to our community of donors andalumni who believe in Thomas M. Cooley LawSchool and the promise of an excellent legaleducation. Through your thoughtfulness andgenerous support, we can now announcethat the Melissa Mitchell MemorialScholarship Fund is now a reality.In August of 2005, a small group ofindividuals decided to make a difference inmemory of a former Cooley student whotouched many lives in a very special way.That student was Melissa Mitchell, a memberof the 2003 Swainson Class. A campaign toestablish a scholarship in Melissa’s memorywas inaugurated with a financial goal of$25,000. The Thomas M. Cooley Law SchoolDevelopment Office is happy to announcethat we have received a total of $21,000toward our goal as well as an estate planninggift for the future of this scholarship.To those readers who wish to make adonation to the Melissa Mitchell MemorialScholarship Fund, please contact theDevelopment Office at (517) 371-5140,ext. 2045 or e-mail Tom Garikes atgarikest@cooley.edu. Your gift is importantbecause it will make a difference in the livesof Cooley students who dream of making adifference. Melissa Mitchell made a difference.“If you want to liftyourself up, lift upsomeone else.”Booker T. Washington12 BENCHMARK TRINITY 2006
featureHarriet GairLawyer, Humanitarian, Businesswoman,and Devoted MotherBy Don LeDuc, President and DeanI am saddened to announcethe death of Harriet E. Gair, aprominent New York lawyer,a 1985 recipient of a Doctorof Laws honoris causa degreefrom Cooley, and a leadingCooley benefactor.Throughout her 100 years, Mrs. Gair was a leaderin the profession and significant sponsor of manyimportant causes.Mrs. Gair received her B.A. degree from New YorkUniversity and, in 1940, her LL.B. from New YorkUniversity School of Law, where she was one ofthe first women to graduate. Later, she became apartner in the firm of Gair & Gair along with herhusband, Harry A. Gair, who was the dean of thenegligence bar in New York.In addition to her work in private practice, whichincluded full management of the law firm, HarrietGair was devoted to the public, to her community,to the advancement of women, and to her faith.Harriet Gair was devoted to the public,to her community, to the advancement ofwomen, and to her faith.She served as president of the New York CityWomen’s Bar Association, and member of the NewYork State Women’s Bar Association, theMetropolitan Women’s Bar Association, theNational Association of Women Lawyers, and theJewish Lawyers Guild, in addition to her membershipin many other national, state, local, and specialtybar associations. She was a member of thetown board of Putnam Valley and, in the late1970s, was elected Town Justice of the town ofPutnam Valley, where she served on the benchwith distinction.A lover of literature, Mrs. Gair single-handedlycreated the Putnam Valley Free Library, goingso far as to purchase and donate to the city thebuilding that housed the books she caused to becollected as president of that library’s Board ofTrustees. Mrs. Gair was also president anddirector of the Mid-Hudson Library Association,which encompassed about 60 libraries in theMid-Hudson area and experienced unprecedentedgrowth during her tenure.Mrs. Gair knew the importance of an education.She completed her own education after manyyears of working to support herself and herfamily as a stenographer and law clerk, whichshe began while in high school and continuedThroughout her 100 years, Mrs. Gair wasa leader in the profession and a significantsponsor of many important causes.through her undergraduate and law schoolyears at NYU. Knowing how limited opportunitiesin the law were for women in those days,Mrs. Gair actively worked to help develop thecareers of numerous young women, serving as aconscious role model, sponsor, and counselor tomany who, though starting out as messengersor secretaries, later went on to become lawyersin their own right.Mrs. Gair remained involved in educationthroughout her 40-year career in the bar. Shewas a director of the NYU Law School AlumniAssociation and the Board of Governors of theNew York University Law Review. Mrs. Gairalso devoted great effort to a number of worthyJewish causes and Jewish jurisprudence, and washonored for her work by such institutions as theInstitute for Jewish Humanities.Throughout her career as lawyer, judge,public servant, and community leader, Mrs.Gair and her husband also managed to raisea family of six children, Donald, Elwood,Barbara, Joyce, and twins, Roger and Anthony.Through her family came her connection toCooley. Son Anthony, a cum laude graduate ofthe 1980 Potter Class, served on Cooley’sboard of directors from 1992 to 2004. Hergrandson and Anthony’s son, Daniel A. Gair, isa 1996 graduate of the Stone Class at Cooley.Our thoughts and best wishes go out to Tony,Daniel, and all the rest of the Gair family.BENCHMARK TRINITY 200613
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