CLEO Partners With the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law in the CLIC Program

Alexandria, VA—March 17, 2022—The Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc. (CLEO) is pleased to announce that the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law is the newest law school to partner with CLEO’s innovative law school access program, CLIC, or CLEO Legally Inspired Cohort. Begun in 2016 with a grant from AccessLex Institute, the CLIC program’s mission is to “enhance access to legal education for students from diverse backgrounds.” In the fall of 2021, the CLIC program ushered in its sixth cohort representing the Class of 2024. Since its 2016 inception, the CLIC Program has supported the law school aspirations of 80 diverse students.

A public law school, UNH Franklin Pierce has been a CLEO supporter since 2003. The 49-year old law school has a globally-recognized Intellectual Property Program, which is number four in the country, according to the 2022 US News & World Report. In 2018, it was ranked 85 among all ranked U.S. law schools. Further, its commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion is boldly stated on its website. One of its tenets states: “We accept and welcome the responsibility of teaching and learning in a diverse democracy where social justice serves as a bridge between a quality education and civic engagement.”

“CLEO is very excited to welcome UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law to the ‘CLIC Family of law schools!’” said Interim CEO, Leigh R. Allen, II. “Since its inception six years ago, the CLIC program has positively impacted the lives of participating CLEO Fellows and helped pave the way for them to successfully matriculate law school. We sincerely thank Dean Carpenter and all of the school’s faculty and staff for believing in this proven initiative enough to become one of our CLIC school partners and are excited to see a new cohort succeed there later this fall!”

“We are proud to partner with CLEO to increase minority student access to law school,” says Megan Carpenter, dean of UNH Franklin Pierce. “We believe that minority law students are more likely to succeed if they are prepared and supported, and the CLIC Fellows program does just that. UNH Franklin Pierce faculty and staff are excited to welcome our CLIC Fellows in the Fall of 2022.”

About the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc.

CLEO, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to diversifying the legal profession by expanding legal education opportunities for persons from traditionally under-represented racial and ethnic groups, low-income, and disadvantaged communities. Founded in 1968, when the number of lawyers of color was less than one percent, CLEO has since had more than 28,000 high school, college prelaw, and law students participate in its programs. CLEO alumni have excelled in every area of the legal profession to include judges, corporate attorneys, law school deans and professors, practitioners, politicians, and more. More information about CLEO and its programs can be found at https://cleoinc.org/