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 The Ave Maria School of Law began a new chapter Wednesday as Tom Monaghan closed the book on the relocation of his Michigan educational institutions that took the better part of a decade. The law school held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new home at Vineyards -- premises formerly occupied temporarily by Ave Maria University after it also moved from Florida to Michigan.
The law school's move was assured when the American Bar Association granted is "acquiescence" to the relocation last month. ABA approval took a while, Mr. Monaghan said, because "a law school has never moved from one part of the country to another."
Now, the challenge will be to get everything ready for the school's opening in August. Acting Dean Eugene Milhizer (above, right, listening to Mr. Monaghan at the lectern) called the move "unprecedented" for a law school, and said the logistics will require significant efforts to simultaneously finish the school year in Michigan while planning for -- and then executing -- the move to Florida.
The law school currently is on its spring break and about a dozen students attended Wednesday's ceremony. "We're excited about coming down here," said Anne Hartman, a second-year student who also participated in the ribbon cutting.
The law school had originally intended to move to the town of Ave Maria, but decided to move to the Vineyards site temporarily while money was raised to build the facility close to the AMU campus. In a recent interview, Acting Dean Milhizer said he did not know the time frame for moving to Ave Maria.
 Many of the students may be in the vicinity on a regular basis, however. One of the speakers at the ribbon-cutting ceremony was Thais Kuoman (left) of the Career and Service Centers of Southwest Florida. Ms. Kouman and Dean Milhizer said that students would have the opportunity to help people in Immokalee with immigration and other legal issues.
Currently, about 300 students are enrolled in the law school, Dean Milhizer said, and most of those would be making the move to Florida.
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