{"id":479,"date":"2023-06-20T14:12:55","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T14:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/?page_id=479"},"modified":"2023-06-21T16:46:11","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T16:46:11","slug":"retiring-class-of-2023","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/retiring-class-of-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Retiring Class of 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"accordion-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"accordion-title\">Blanke, Butterfoss, Failinger, and Winer retire from Mitchell Hamline<\/h3>\n<p>Four important leaders in the history of Mitchell Hamline and its predecessor schools retired in the past year. In addition to their important scholarship and teaching abilities, Doug Blanke, Ed Butterfoss, Marie Failinger, and Anthony Winer also held crucial leadership roles. Blanke founded the Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline; Butterfoss and Failinger both served as deans at Hamline Law (they also started at the law school on the same day in 1983); and Winer was a trailblazer for LGBTQ+ people in legal education.<\/p>\n<div class=\"introduction-wrapper\">\n<h2><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18256 alignright\" style=\"height: 250px;width: auto\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/Doug-Blanke-2-214x300.jpg\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18256\" \/>Doug Blanke, longtime head of Public Health Law Center<\/h2>\n<div class=\"post-date\">Posted: May 9, 2022<\/div>\n<p>After 22 years at the helm of the Public Health Law Center, Executive Director Doug Blanke retired at the end of June 2022. Doug\u2019s achievements in public health policy, legislative advocacy, and consumer protection, span four decades on the local, state, national, and international stages.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"accordion\">\n<li class=\"accordion-item\">\n<h4 class=\"accordion-item-title\">Continue Blanke retirement story<\/h4>\n<div class=\"accordion-item-body\">\n<p>A former Minnesota Assistant Attorney General, Doug played a key role in the historic ligation against the tobacco industry in the 1990s, resulting in the seminal release of internal documents that exposed the tobacco industry\u2019s long history of deceptive marketing, advertising, and research. In 2000, Doug founded what is now the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthlawcenter.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Health Law Center<\/a>\u00a0at Mitchell Hamline School of Law. From a one-person law and policy think tank on commercial tobacco control issues, the Center grew under Doug\u2019s leadership to become a national organization of over 30 public health attorneys, policy analysts, and support staff that help community leaders strengthen public health laws and health equity.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the Public Health Law Center is the nation\u2019s leading source of legal technical assistance on commercial tobacco control, and assists Tribal, federal, state, and local health advocates and policymakers in dozens of health policy areas, ranging from supporting healthy food access, to the expansion of active transportation policies, to the incorporation of environmental justice in health policy. The Center\u2019s work to eliminate menthol in commercial tobacco products, in partnership with Black-led organizations over the past decade, played a part in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/01\/public-health-law-center-celebrates-victory-against-menthol\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">decision in April 2021<\/a>\u00a0to eliminate menthol in cigarettes, and exemplifies the Center\u2019s impact on national policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe national fight to get mentholated tobacco products off the U.S. market owes a huge debt of gratitude to Doug Blanke and the Public Health Law Center. It was the Center that convened national strategy sessions, \u2018listening and valuing\u2019 all of the voices at the table. Before \u2018equity\u2019 became a buzzword, they sought us out to partner, support, and champion this cause,\u201d said Carol McGruder, Co-Chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council. \u201cWe thank Doug Blanke and the Center for their unwavering partnership with us to Save Black Lives!\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18183\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/mitchellhamline\/docs\/mitchell_hamline_law_spring_2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18183 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/04\/spreads1.gif\" alt=\"Mitchell Hamline Law, Spring 2022\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18183\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-18183\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">To read an article from our Spring 2022 issue of Mitchell Hamline Law magazine about PHLC\u2019s efforts to ban menthol,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/01\/public-health-law-center-celebrates-victory-against-menthol\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cFrom fighting Big Tobacco to tackling racism as public health crisis, Doug\u2019s legacy is in the evolution of public health law, in embedding racial and health equity into how and why we advocate for healthy communities,\u201d said Vayong Moua, Director, Health Equity Advocacy, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Center for Prevention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoug has made extraordinary contributions to public health and tobacco control over a long and illustrious career,\u201d said Mitch Zeller, Director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products.\u00a0\u201cWhat has so impressed me over the decades I have known Doug is his strong commitment to using the tools of the law to advance public health and social justice.\u00a0He will be missed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Doug\u2019s visionary leadership in public health policy extended to the international stage when he helped draft the global guidelines for smoking regulation, adopted as part of the world\u2019s first public health treaty, the World Health Organization\u2019s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. He also edited the World Health Organization\u2019s handbook on tobacco control legislation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoug made giant contributions towards the elimination of the death and disease caused by tobacco that will continue to ripple around the U.S. and the world,\u201d said Tim McAfee, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s Office on Smoking and Health. \u201cWhat I loved about working with Doug was that he brought a solid sense of good will to inter-organizational work, communicating a sense that we were all in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2004, the American Lung Association presented him with its C. Everett Koop \u201cUnsung Hero\u201d Award for his contributions to tobacco control. He is currently Chair of the Board of Trustees for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), having served on its board since 2007.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoug Blanke has done more than anyone to advance tobacco control from behind the scenes. Countless policies around the country and around the world are more effective and more legally defensible because of his wise counsel,\u201d said Micah Berman, Associate Professor of Public Health and Law at The Ohio State University. \u201cFor me and many others in public health, he has been a role model, a mentor, a friend, and a beacon of moral clarity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A national search is currently being conducted to select the next Executive Director at the Public Health Law Center.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article first appeared on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthlawcenter.org\/commentary\/220420\/4\/20\/22-doug-blanke-announces-retirement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Health Law Center\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"introduction-wrapper bg-white\">\n<h2><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-18625\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/p15186coll12_163_extralarge-300x200.jpg\" height=\"200\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18625\" \/>Ed Butterfoss, longtime professor and former Hamline Law dean<\/h2>\n<div class=\"post-date\">Posted: July 28, 2022<\/div>\n<p>Ed Butterfoss always returned to teaching.<\/p>\n<p>During his time as a faculty member at Hamline University \u2013 and later Mitchell Hamline \u2013 schools of law, Butterfoss found himself elevated \u2013 sometimes drafted \u2013 for leadership positions, including several years as Hamline Law\u2019s dean. But he always felt the pull of the classroom, eschewing a long career in administration to return to his faculty positions.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"accordion\">\n<li class=\"accordion-item bg-white border-bottom-0\">\n<h4 class=\"accordion-item-title\">Continue Butterfoss retirement story<\/h4>\n<div class=\"accordion-item-body\">\n<p>A well-known instructor of contracts, criminal law, and criminal procedure \u2013 which included several appearances in local media to comment on various news stories of the day \u2013 Butterfoss retired this month after nearly 40 years in legal education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEd has given so much to the legal community in Minnesota and beyond,\u201d said President and Dean Anthony Niedwiecki. \u201cIn addition to the many thousands of students he\u2019s taught, Ed always stepped up to leadership positions when asked, and his ability to work with anyone made him successful each time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe helped Hamline Law grow, which in turn helped Mitchell Hamline be the law school it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18628\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-18628\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/Journal-News-Hamilt-178x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"178\" height=\"300\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18628\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-18628\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Butterfoss\u2019 soccer prowess, as detailed in an article from the Hamilton (OH) Journal News on Oct. 24, 1976.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Raised in New Jersey, Butterfoss earned an undergraduate accounting degree \u2013 and played on his university\u2019s soccer team \u2013 before gravitating to law school. After graduating from Georgetown Law, he was in private practice for three years in Philadelphia before joining the faculty at Hamline Law in 1983 as an assistant professor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt that point, our school was barely 11 years old and not well known, so it was a leap of faith to come to Hamline,\u201d said Professor Marie Failinger, who began at the law school the same day as Butterfoss. \u201cAs I remember it, it was sort of culture shock for him to come from the East Coast to Minnesota, which was overwhelmingly white.\u00a0So, one of his first and longest-term efforts was to try to bring more racial diversity to Hamline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went to any event and talked to anyone I could,\u201d said Butterfoss. \u201cPeople were incredibly welcoming and eager to help. I think we did a lot of good work over the years, especially to diversify the student body.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Much of Butterfoss\u2019 efforts were in partnership with the Minnesota Minority Lawyers Association, which awarded the school and Butterfoss its Distinguished Service Award in 1989. \u201cTo me, that\u2019s the most important work I\u2019ve done,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Butterfoss was also a founding board member of the Innocence Project of Minnesota, a board member of the ACLU of Minnesota and Centro Legal of Minnesota, and a member of the ABA Accreditation Committee, which he chaired for three years.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18624\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-18624\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/Hamline-Oracle-09081998-Butterfoss-named-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18624\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-18624\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Page from The Oracle, Hamline University\u2019s student newspaper, from September 1998, including an article announcing Butterfoss\u2019 appointment as dean.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In the 1990s, Butterfoss was tapped for a leadership role, serving as associate dean for academic affairs from 1995 to 1998, before being named dean of Hamline Law. He served for five years. During his tenure, Hamline Law began a program that allowed students to attend on weekends \u2013 an idea born from a conversation with a student, according to Butterfoss. At the time, it was only the second such program in the nation. Hamline Law also gained a national reputation for its alternative dispute resolution program during Butterfoss\u2019 deanship.<\/p>\n<p>But it was his personable leadership style that most of his colleagues from that time recall. \u201cHamline Law School had no finer dean than Ed,\u201d said Professor Emerita Carol Swanson, who served as associate dean during his deanship. \u201cI knew Ed to be a rare unicorn among law faculty and particularly deans, possessing endless humility and common sense. A peerless problem-solver, Ed most often cut to the chase with surgical precision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Professor Butterfoss became Dean Butterfoss I learned what true leadership is,\u201d added Professor Emeritus Joe Daly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEd was a thoughtful leader who treated everyone fairly when he served as our dean at Hamline,\u201d said Professor David Larson, who began at Hamline the year Butterfoss became dean. \u201cIt\u2019s no surprise that he always has been an effective and popular professor because, to put it simply, he is a genuinely good person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Butterfoss stepped down as dean after the 2002-2003 school year to return to teaching after what had been eight years in administrative positions. A group of alumni, faculty, and staff stablished a diversity scholarship in his name that\u2019s still awarded annually to an incoming student.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18623\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18623 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/Butterfoss_Ed1-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18623\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-18623\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor Ed Butterfoss<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>But the calls to return to leadership never fully stopped.<\/p>\n<p>When Lucinda Jesson, then the director of Hamline\u2019s Health Law Institute, was named chair of the law school\u2019s dean search committee in the late 2000s, the responses she heard most from faculty, staff, students, and alums were \u201cWill Ed Butterfoss become dean again?\u201d and \u201cHire someone like Ed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring my five years at Hamline, I never met a student, staff member, faculty, or alum who did not have good things to say about Ed Butterfoss,\u201d said Jesson, who is now a judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. \u201cHe arrived on campus with boundless optimism and energy every day, and that optimism shone through in every interaction with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Butterfoss did serve one later stint as associate dean \u2013 from 2010 to 2012 \u2013 he always considered himself a teacher first. He was known for often riding his bike to work and hosting Kentucky Derby parties. And Butterfoss coached more than 50 teams in local recreation leagues \u2013 once commenting there were few children in St. Paul\u2019s Macalester-Groveland neighborhood he hadn\u2019t coached in some sport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEd Butterfoss was one of my favorite professors in law school because of his sincere enthusiasm for the law, and his way of making everyone in his class feel included and worthy of being a future lawyer,\u201d said John Choi, a 1995 Hamline Law alum who is now Ramsey County Attorney and a Mitchell Hamline trustee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbove all, his service to the broader community and commitment to improving the quality of justice in our state is a legacy that all of us should seek to emulate in our professions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"introduction-wrapper\">\n<h2><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-19085\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2023\/01\/Marie-Failinger_800x450-300x169.jpg\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19085\" \/><br \/>\nLongtime professor, former Hamline Law dean Marie Failinger<\/h2>\n<div class=\"post-date\">Posted: January 20, 2023<\/div>\n<p>Marie Failinger, a longtime professor who was Hamline University School of Law\u2019s final dean in the months before the 2015 combination with William Mitchell College of Law, retired in January 2023 after nearly 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>Failinger, 70, said she still plans to be involved with Mitchell Hamline, but she\u2019ll no longer teach full time because of her health.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"accordion\">\n<li class=\"accordion-item\">\n<h4 class=\"accordion-item-title\">Continue Failinger retirement story<\/h4>\n<div class=\"accordion-item-body\">\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m in pretty good shape now, but I wasn\u2019t sure I could continue being a professor at the level I expect of myself,\u201d said Failinger. \u201cMy future is uncertain, but this is also a good time to let the next generation of leaders take on several new initiatives at the school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During her time at Hamline Law and Mitchell Hamline, Failinger taught a range of subjects, from constitutional to criminal to family and property Law. She has also been a leading voice on women in the legal profession, having helped found the Infinity Project \u2013 an organization dedicated to getting more women on the bench at the state and federal level within the 8th Judicial Circuit \u2013 and being an active member of Minnesota Women Lawyers.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19087\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-19087\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2023\/01\/p15186coll12_317_extralarge-300x273.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"273\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19087\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-19087\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor Marie Failinger (left) and Jose Roberto (Beto) Juarez, chair of the Journal of Law and Religion editorial board, during Juris Fiesta in 2008.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cMarie is one in a million,\u201d said Professor Morgan Holcomb, who served as associate dean at Hamline Law when Failinger was interim dean and the school was transitioning to the combination with Mitchell. \u201cShe\u2019s the kind of faculty member I strive to be \u2013 a scholar whose passion about her subject area comes through in every article and a teacher who respects each student\u2019s intellect as well as their humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A lot of Failinger\u2019s scholarship focused on the intersection of the law and religion. She served as editor in chief of the Journal of Law and Religion for nearly a quarter century, until 2013. \u201cI was drawn to it because it was a way to think intellectually about my own Lutheran faith tradition,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith her talents for working with all stripes of professors, students, staff, and the public, she quietly undergirded the law and religion conversation in the United States and beyond for decades,\u201d wrote Emily Albrink Hartigan, a retired professor at St. Mary\u2019s University School of Law, in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/journals\/journal-of-law-and-religion\/article\/tribute-to-marie-failinger\/32576CABF2C19506021E0C00860106CF?fbclid=IwAR0PPyHRlFUSRJWgac0xBDlWpED6hxj4sBpLm_fId0wYVd77TsoC0AYqhbY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tribute<\/a>\u00a0in the journal last March.<\/p>\n<p>Failinger also has been a steadfast de facto historian for Mitchell Hamline and its predecessor schools, gathering oral histories from several former faculty members and alums and heading a history committee at the school. She also created an oral history project for the AALS Section on Women in Legal Education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarie is a consummate professional,\u201d added Professor Kate Kruse, who also served as an associate dean at Hamline Law just before the combination. \u201cShe is always thinking about ways we could be doing things better and who might be excluded by our policies and practices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raised in the Midwest, Failinger attended college and law school in Indiana and initially worked for a legal services organization there before getting a master\u2019s degree at Yale and switching to legal education. She was recruited to Hamline University School of Law in 1983 and was drawn to the idea of helping grow a nascent school that had only been founded a few years prior.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19086\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-19086\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2023\/01\/p15186coll12_161_extralarge-228x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"228\" height=\"300\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19086\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-19086\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">File photo of Professor Marie Failinger when she was at Hamline University School of Law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI came to Hamline hoping to educate students more clearly about the challenges that my clients, who were the indigent folks that we served at Legal Services, had getting justice in the courts,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat I hope I accomplished throughout these years was to get students to open their eyes to the way law both reinforces injustice and serves as a vehicle for justice,\u201d said Failinger. \u201cEspecially for the most vulnerable in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Failinger had two stints as associate dean at Hamline Law before the school needed an interim leader to shepherd the school through its combination with William Mitchell in 2015. Those nine months were spent in intense negotiations with the American Bar Association, which needed to give its acquiescence for the combination. Once the school had moved to the current Mitchell Hamline campus, Failinger recalls vividly being the last one to leave and turning out the lights at Hamline.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarie was an incredible source of historical knowledge, insight, and wisdom during that time,\u201d said Professor Mark Gordon, who became president and dean of William Mitchell just before the combination. \u201cShe was innovative in her thinking, tireless in her efforts, and candid in her advice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think Marie played an extremely significant role in the success of the combination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Failinger was also a mentor for students like Lori Saroya \u201913, who recently\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/2023\/01\/18\/alum-makes-history-on-twin-cities-suburbs-council\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">took office<\/a>\u00a0as the first woman of color and Muslim member of the Blaine, Minn., city council. \u201cShe was instrumental in helping me navigate law school and realize my potential, even when I ran for city council,\u201d said Saroya.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to have a professor who believes in you and continues to encourage and support you a decade after you leave their classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"introduction-wrapper bg-white\">\n<h2><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18547 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/06\/Winer_Anthony-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" height=\"200\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18547\" \/>Anthony Winer, trailblazer for LGBTQ+ people in legal education<\/h2>\n<div class=\"post-date\">Posted: July 1, 2022<\/div>\n<p>Anthony Winer spent the 1980s working at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, then two big firms in New York City. By all accounts, he could have stayed in New York and had a lucrative career in international banking law.<\/p>\n<p>But Anthony Winer also spent the latter part of the 1980s watching many of his friends and acquaintances die from AIDS. The distress was compounded by the death of Winer\u2019s own partner of 12 years, in 1989.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"accordion\">\n<li class=\"accordion-item bg-white border-bottom-0\">\n<h4 class=\"accordion-item-title\">Continue Winer retirement story<\/h4>\n<div class=\"accordion-item-body\">\n<p>\u201cMuch of the trauma and death surrounding the AIDS epidemic was built on fear and ignorance about gay people and same-sex sexual attraction,\u201d said Winer. \u201cI finally realized that I could make a positive contribution by leaving the law as I had been practicing it and serving academically as an out gay law professor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hoped I could present a positive example for lesbian and gay students and also break other people\u2019s stereotypes of lesbian and gay people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Winer retires after more than 30 years teaching at Mitchell Hamline, he does so as a trailblazer for LGBTQ+ people in legal education \u2013 the first full-time tenure-track and openly gay doctrinal law professor in Minnesota who regularly taught courses in, and wrote academically concerning, issues specifically concerning lesbian and gay people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am so grateful for Tony\u2019s tireless advocacy at a time when it was still risky to be out in our society,\u201d said Mitchell Hamline President and Dean Anthony Niedwiecki, one of a handful of openly LGBTQ+ law school deans in the country. \u201cYou can draw a line from his work to my being where I am as an out gay man, but Tony should also be remembered as a phenomenal teacher who helped all of his students gain a better understanding of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Getting Started<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When Winer realized it was time for a career change, he enrolled in an LL.M. program at NYU School of Law specifically designed for students who wanted to become law professors. At a job fair near the end of that program, he told faculty recruiters from law schools across the country he was a gay man who wanted to focus on teaching banking law and the laws around sexual orientation. He recalls getting about ten interviews but only one call back \u2013 from William Mitchell College of Law in Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p>He began in the fall of 1991 and his course on sexual orientation and the law soon became wildly popular. He has taught the course ever since. \u201cIt was a groundbreaking seminar,\u201d said professor emerita Ann Juergens. \u201cOne of the first of its kind and his teaching was always impeccably prepared and rigorous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went to law school when there was more focus on faculty getting published than actually being a good teacher,\u201d added Winer. \u201cI made it my mission to not be like that. I planned out and structured Socratic questions in a way that proceeded in a logical way, so that students who had done the reading would have an improved understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recruiters<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 1991, the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) required its member schools to enact policies that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. It also required employers that visited campuses to recruit employees also have such nondiscrimination policies in place.<\/p>\n<p>That led to many law schools banning military recruiters because of the \u201cdon\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell\u201d policy at the time that banned openly gay and lesbian people from service. Congress then amended the law to put pressure on schools by threatening federal grants if they denied military recruiters.<\/p>\n<p>Because William Mitchell wasn\u2019t connected to a larger university that relied on such grants for things like research, the school was one of a handful to keep its ban in place \u2013 until the feds threatened to take away federal loans for students.<\/p>\n<p>When Mitchell relented, Winer organized faculty and students to picket the front of campus on days the military recruiters would be present. He believes Mitchell was the only law school in the country to picket the presence of military recruiters at that time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were confident we were on the right side of history, but we also knew there could be alums who would\u2019ve disagreed with what we were doing,\u201d said Winer. \u201cSome people saw us as being anti-military, but we weren\u2019t anti-military at all. Just anti-discrimination, and we tried to make that clear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The issue came to a head in the local press. \u201cOne person who was critical of us, who was also an alum, published a commentary in the [Minneapolis] Star Tribune, saying how disappointed he was in how we were treating the military.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18548\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-18548\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/06\/Winer-37-WM-facult-300x95.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"95\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18548\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-18548\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Winer, Juergens, and 36 colleagues at William Mitchell authored and signed onto this commentary in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Apr. 29, 2000, defending the school\u2019s picketing of military recruiters on campus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In response, Winer and Juergens penned a response joined by 36 colleagues. \u201cIt was remarkable. Even more conservative faculty members and staff signed on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When the military\u2019s \u201cdon\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell\u201d policy ended in 2011, Kent Greenfield \u2013 a Boston College law professor who was part of an unsuccessful court challenge by law schools in the 2000s \u2013 told the Associated Press that William Mitchell was \u201cworthy of a lot of admiration and thanks from gay and lesbian service members and gay and lesbians around the country for sticking up for gay rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Project 515<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winer also played a \u201ccritical\u201d role in securing marriage equality in Minnesota, according to Lee Anderson \u201997, vice president for government and public affairs at General Mills. Anderson was a co-founder of Project 515, which was borne of a project Winer oversaw to document every place in Minnesota\u2019s laws that discriminated against same-sex couples because they only granted rights to opposite-sex married couples.<\/p>\n<p>The volunteers, who included several William Mitchell alums, \u201cmet regularly with Professor Winer to review statutes that were more difficult to interpret,\u201d added Anderson.\u00a0 The result was a list of 515 laws.\u00a0\u201cFor the first time ever, discrimination under the law against same-sex couples in Minnesota had been defined and Project 515 was born.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18549\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-18549\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/06\/clip_104719252-212x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"212\" height=\"300\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18549\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-18549\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune on May 15, 2013, after Gov. Mark Dayton signed marriage equality into law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The organization became one of two to create the campaign that defeated a proposed constitutional amendment in 2012 that would have banned same-sex marriage. The campaign then advocated for the Legislature to enact marriage equality, which it did in 2013. \u201cIt all started with that original research overseen by Professor Winer\u2019s keen legal eye,\u201d said Anderson.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In addition to his important work on LGBTQ+ issues, Winer never strayed from his first expertise in business and international law. He coached the International Moot Court team and advocated for international law to be better integrated into Mitchell Hamline\u2019s curriculum, according to Juergens. His work also led to a Fulbright Scholarship that included him making several trips to Azerbaijan, including during the 2008-9 academic year to teach international law.<\/p>\n<p>He also taught professors in the former Soviet republic about teaching methods used in Western law schools. Much of his work was through what is now called the American Bar Association\u2019s Rule of Law Initiative.<\/p>\n<p>For all his advocacy, Juergens also notes Winer \u201cwas firmly in the camp of not letting students know the teacher\u2019s own views on political or justice issues. He sought to remain a blank slate and probe the students, so their own views became clear to them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn doing that, his students also learned what a supportive teacher he was. He always made time for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blanke, Butterfoss, Failinger, and Winer retire from Mitchell Hamline Four important leaders in the history of Mitchell Hamline and its predecessor schools retired in the past year. In addition to their important scholarship and teaching abilities, Doug Blanke, Ed Butterfoss, Marie Failinger, and Anthony Winer also held crucial leadership roles. Blanke founded the Public Health &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/retiring-class-of-2023\/\" class=\"more-link\">Retiring Class of 2023<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"article-type":[10],"class_list":{"0":"post-479","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"article-type-retirements","6":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/479\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-type?post=479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}