Last year, the NIU College of Law celebrated a 25th anniversary filled with accomplishments.

Dean LeRoy Pernell announced in October that NIU was awarded the 2003 Sullivan Scholarship by the Illinois Judges Association.

The award is given to one Illinois law school each year.

The college also received praise from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan for the diversity of the college.

Forty-five percent of the NIU College of Law faculty and one-third of the class of 2005 are minorities.

Also, the college has more than 50 alumni who are judges representing areas across the country.

“We have alumni in virtually every state and in other countries. Twenty percent of the alumni have Chicago work addresses, so it shows NIU law students do make it in big cities,” said Greg Anderson, director of career services and development for the NIU College of Law.

Anderson said NIU’s law college is special for several reasons.

“The national average debt of graduate law students is about $83,000. Our students graduate with about half that debt and are able to consider a broader range of jobs,” Anderson said. “Also, we accept only about 350 students in the program. That’s one positive thing. When I was studying at Wisconsin, one of my classes alone was 300. This is a very close-knit school.”

The College of Law will host an open house for its new Kenneth C. Chessick Legal Skills Training Center from 3 to 5 p.m. March 14.

The center will house a high-tech Moot Courtroom, a Smart Classroom and a deposition room. A donation made by Kenneth C. Chessick (J.D., 1984) made it possible to bring today’s courtroom technology to NIU.