{"id":255,"date":"2018-08-02T00:24:54","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T04:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magazine.nyls.edu\/magazine-2\/?p=255"},"modified":"2023-05-01T14:54:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T18:54:05","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.nyls.edu\/vol38no1\/2018\/08\/02\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evening Division Celebrates 125 Years: <\/br>HISTORY<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

HISTORY  \u2022  REFLECTIONS<\/a>  \u2022  FUTURE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

NYLS\u2019s Evening Division was founded in 1894\u2014the same year bottled Cola-Cola hit the market, the patent for motion picture films was granted, and Pullman Company workers launched a nationwide strike.<\/h2>

These developments spoke to broader societal changes: technology was accelerating, ideas were being shared further and faster than ever, and the wealth gap was widening. Meanwhile, legal education was growing and becoming formalized.<\/p>

Three years prior, a group from Columbia Law School had broken away to launch NYLS. The School\u2019s founders, propelled by a spirit of innovation, saw no reason to restrict its programming to the daytime hours. When the \u201cEvening School,\u201d as it was called in advertisements from the time, launched, it became a destination for working professionals, many drawn from New York\u2019s working class communities, to advance their careers and pursue their dreams.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

Get Involved:
CONNECT WITH HISTORY<\/strong>
NYLS\u2019s Mendik Library showcases NYLS\u2019s rich institutional history through Digital Commons <\/a>and its collection of documents and artifacts. Alumni who wish to know more, or who have an artifact they would like to share related to the Evening Division\u2019s history, are invited to contact Michael Roffer '83, Professor of Legal Research and Associate Librarian for Reader Services, at michael.roffer@nyls.edu<\/a> or 212.431.2150.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Historical Highlights<\/strong><\/h3>

1891: <\/strong>NYLS is founded by a breakaway group from Columbia Law School, driven by ideological differences in teaching methods and led by Theodore Dwight.<\/p>

1894: <\/strong>NYLS, growing rapidly, is among the first law schools to add an \u201cEvening School\u201d to its offerings. Unlike daytime students, who study at 120 Broadway in the Equitable Building, evening students attend class at the Cooper Union Building in the East Village, Astor Place. Ads from the time period list both addresses.<\/p>

\"NYLS
This 1894 ledger shows the Evening Division\u2019s first class.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

1898: <\/strong>Both campuses relocate. Day students move around the corner to 35 Nassau Street. Evening students attend school at 9 West 18th Street. A New York Tribune <\/em>newspaper advertisement promotes the \u201cDwight Method\u201d of instruction and NYLS\u2019s degree offerings at the time: LL.B. (two years) and LL.M. (three years).<\/p>

\"\"
Pictured: the 1898 Tribune ad<\/figcaption><\/figure>

1903: <\/strong>More than a decade after NYLS\u2019s founding, evening students join day students at 35 Nassau Street. Going forward, they will study at a combined campus, even as the School subsequently relocates.<\/p>

1936\u201337: <\/strong>For evening (and daytime) students, the modern naming convention of the first-year, second-year, and third-year classes is adopted. Prior classes were named \u201cJunior,\u201d \u201cMiddle,\u201d and \u201cSenior.\u201d<\/p>

1937\u201339: <\/strong>NYLS debuts a three-year afternoon and evening track and <\/em>a four-year afternoon and evening track, in addition to its three-year daytime track.<\/p>

1939\u201340: <\/strong>The School settles into its current structure of a three-year Day Division and a four-year Evening Division.<\/p>

1969: <\/strong>An issue of Equitas, <\/em>NYLS\u2019s then-student newspaper, includes an article titled \u201cLaw Schools Form Consortium.\u201d The story summarizes efforts by NYLS and three other law schools offering both day and evening courses to increase diversity in the legal profession. The consortium will do so, the article notes, by granting additional scholarships for evening students with dependents.<\/p>

1990: <\/strong>In a May issue <\/a>of the New York Law School Reporter, <\/em>an evening student (Barry Block \u201991) shares tips for forging stronger connections with day students. Among them: Evening students should take the occasional daytime course, spend time in the student lounge before 6:00 p.m. classes, and join a student group. In doing so, Block wrote, \u201cday students will discover that evening students are teachers, policemen, doctors, airline pilots, and a myriad of other interesting professionals ...\u201d<\/p>

\"All
Pictured: Block\u2019s 1990 feature story<\/figcaption><\/figure>

1991: <\/strong>The student yearbook includes an essay by Block titled \u201cThe Life of an Evening Student.\u201d He recounts, \u201cAs evening students, most of us did not have the luxury of studying during the day. We were busy with full-time jobs ... Occasionally, we would find ourselves pitted against a young professor and saying, \u2018That\u2019s fine in principle, but it\u2019s not the way it works in the real world.\u2019\u201d<\/p>

1992: <\/strong>NYLS becomes the first law school to join the Mayor\u2019s Graduate Scholarship Program, through which New York City employees may pursue additional higher education beyond a bachelor\u2019s degree while working full-time. The same year, NYLS launches a special scholarship program for employees of nonprofits.<\/p>

2012: <\/strong>Dean Anthony W. Crowell, who earned his J.D. as an evening student, is appointed Dean and President of NYLS. He is the first NYLS Dean, and one of two law school deans among 205 nationally, known to have graduated from an evening law school program.<\/p>

2015: <\/strong>NYLS announces its Public Service Scholarship Program for members of New York City\u2019s uniformed services and other public servants, many of whom have historically populated the Evening Division.<\/p>

2019:<\/strong> NYLS is ranked No. 28 among national part-time J.D. programs in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report. <\/em>The School secures a grant from the AccessLex Institute to explore, design, and implement responses to the particular academic and bar prep challenges evening students face. With a generous lead gift from evening graduate Arthur Metzler \u201994, President and CEO of AMA Consulting Engineers, P.C., NYLS establishes the Evening Division Leadership Fund to support evening students\u2019 academic and bar success.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/div>

Noteworthy Early Alumni<\/strong><\/h3>