The Star Tribune featured Mitchell Hamline’s Hybrid J.D. program, and the accomplishments of some of its first graduates, in the newspaper’s Jan. 8 edition.
The story includes interviews with Mitchell Hamline President and Dean Mark Gordon and Professor Mike Steenson. It also takes a look at the experiences of Briana Al Taqatqa ’18 and Brian Kennedy ’18. Al Taqatqa and Kennedy won the International Negotiation Competition this summer in Oslo, Norway. They were among 16 Hybrid J.D. students who studied on an accelerated path and graduated Jan. 7 after three years instead of four.
Dean Gordon told the Star Tribune that graduating early is one of the advantages of the Hybrid model. “We found that a lot of students just wanted to accelerate,” he said. “And the way the program was structured, they were able to.”
National Jurist also covered the story of the first Hybrid J.D. program graduates. Cristina Buskohl ’18 told National Jurist that Mitchell Hamline’s program allowed her to earn her J.D. without upending her life.
“Accessibility to legal education is something that affected me,” Buskohl said. “I would not have been able to go to law school and do all the things I was able to do but for this program. I would have had to make a choice. I would have to decide to quit my job or move my family closer to a law school so that I could go full time.”
Minnesota Lawyer also featured coverage of Mitchell Hamline’s winter commencement and a Q & A with Briana Al Taqatqa.