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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate support
3Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, John Marshall Law School,
4Northern Illinois University College of Law, University of
5Chicago Law School, Southern Illinois University School of Law,
6Chicago-Kent College of Law, DePaul University College of Law,
7Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and University of
8Illinois College of Law and their pledge to improve the
9well-being and mental health of their campuses and to better
10address mental health issues among lawyers, starting with law
11students; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Improving wellness and advancing legal education
13are synchronized interests; addressing these issues within the
14State's communities will result in happier and healthier
15individuals and better students and contributing members of the
16legal profession; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The legal profession has a lengthy history of
18substance abuse and often penalizes individuals seeking help;
19poor student or practitioner health is not a necessary
20byproduct of a rigorous legal education and needs to be treated
21as the scourge of the profession that it is; students left
22behind are not due to a failure of personal strength but are
23testaments to the collective failure to uplift one another and

 

 

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1raise the standards of the legal trade; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Law school administrations are joining efforts to
3facilitate well-being and recognize mental health issues, to
4listen to the concerns of the students and be responsive to
5their well-being and mental health struggles, and to build a
6school atmosphere where well-being and mental health is
7recognized as an immediate issue which deserves attention and
8resolution; therefore, be it
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
10ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the need
11to end the stigma surrounding mental health, stand in support
12of the efforts by the law schools of our State to provide
13better access to care, and urge them to continue in their
14efforts to address this issue; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
16presented to Richard C. Minott, President of Northwestern
17Pritzker School of Law, Hannah G. Johnson, President of John
18Marshall Law School, Victor Zamora, President of Northern
19Illinois University College of Law, Mihai F. Chitulescu,
20President of University of Chicago Law School, Jacob Welch,
21President of Southern Illinois University School of Law, Dawn
22Peacock, President of Chicago-Kent College of Law, Ashlee
23Germany, President of DePaul University College of Law, Brian

 

 

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1P. Gibbons, President of Loyola University Chicago School of
2Law, and Ashley G. Kennedy, President of University of Illinois
3College of Law as an expression of our esteem and respect.