Olivet announces partnership to offer legal studies program

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Bourbonnais, Illinois

Olivet Nazarene University announced a new partnership with the Center for Law and Culture to launch a legal studies program that will provide training for students who want to pursue careers in public life, particularly in the fields of law, government, and politics.

Charles Emmerich is the founder and executive director of the non-profit center, which aims to restore truth in law through educational initiatives in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The center is now housed at Olivet, and Emmerich is the school's newest faculty member.

He said this partnership with Olivet will help to fill a critical void in higher education.

"A handful of Christian colleges and universities have a lawyer on faculty, but even those don’t offer the kind of comprehensive liberal arts approach to legal studies that we will offer," Emmerich said. "Olivet will be the premier choice for talented and intellectually inclined students who view leadership and public service as an extension of their deeply rooted faith."

Emmerich will serve as faculty advisor to a new student organization known as the Law and Politics Society. He will also identify and network with law alumni, recruit talented students, formulate the legal studies minor, and offer the Center’s Law, Justice and Culture Institute in May.

Olivet President John Bowling believes Olivet students will benefit exponentially from Emmerich’s experience and vision.

"Charlie Emmerich has the depth of knowledge and experience necessary to prepare our students for the academic rigor of law school and public policy," Bowling said. "More than that, his passion will inspire a generation of leaders to positively transform every facet of our society."

Prior to joining Olivet’s faculty, Emmerich served as chair of the Political Science Department at Trinity Christian College. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College, a law degree (J.D.) from the University of Idaho, and an advanced law degree (LL.M.) in constitutional law and history from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied under federal Appeals Court Judge Arlin M. Adams.

Emmerich also worked as a research consultant on the Penn Project on Religious Liberty. He has served as national director of Law Student Ministries of the Christian Legal Society, as pre-law director at Wheaton College and at Trinity International University, and as executive director of the Center for Church/State Studies at DePaul University College of Law. 

He has published numerous articles on Christian worldview formation and on the historical development of religious liberty in the Anglo-American tradition. Along with his mentor, Judge Adams, he co-authored the book A Nation Dedicated to Religious Liberty. The book, which was published by the University of Pennsylvania and contains a foreword by Warren E. Burger, has been praised by prominent legal scholars and cited extensively in two cases of the United States Supreme Court.

"In the center’s annual Law, Justice and Culture Institute, I challenge students aspiring to public service to emulate the courage of Christian leaders such as William Wilberforce, John Witherspoon, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer," Emmerich said. "Perhaps someday we will look back and recognize that we helped cultivate champions of the faith — from lawyers, teachers, and public servants to the highest levels of leadership in the Supreme Court, halls of Congress and White House."
--Olivet Nazarene University

 

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