HR0703 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0703 LRB096 15224 GRL 30299 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, John Marshall Law School was founded in 1899 on the principle that, in a healthy democracy, the study of the law should be available to all qualified students; and

WHEREAS, John Marshall, a non-profit law school, has honored its mission of access and opportunity from its earliest years, when the first graduating classes included women and African Americans, to the present, with the most recent class made up of 46% women and 29% minorities; and

WHEREAS, John Marshall consistently ranks among the best law schools in the nation for legal writing and trial advocacy, core skills for training the next generations of successful lawyers; and

WHEREAS, In 1993, John Marshall opened its Fair Housing Clinic to provide pro bono legal representation to those impacted by housing discrimination; and

WHEREAS, In 2008, John Marshall opened its Veterans Legal Support Center and Clinic to provide pro bono legal representation to our returning service members as they fought for their disability benefits; and

WHEREAS, John Marshall has enjoyed a long tradition of alumni serving in the public sector; nearly one-fifth of the judiciary in the State of Illinois and numerous current General Assembly members, including Senators Michael Noland and Ira Silverstein and Representatives Franco Coladipietro, Michael Connelly, Jim Durkin, Careen Gordon, Andre Thapedi, and Michael Zalewski, are all former graduates of the school; and

WHEREAS, John Marshall is also proud of its alumni who have served in the United States Congress, including John W. Cox, Thomas E. Ewing, and George E. Sangmeister; and

WHEREAS, George Sangmeister was born in Frankfort, and graduated from Joliet Junior College in 1951; he went on to serve our country in the United States Army as an infantryman during the Korean War; he then came back and earned his bachelor's degree from Elmhurst College in 1957; and

WHEREAS, George Sangmeister earned his LL.B. and J.D. degrees at the John Marshall Law School; he then practiced law at the firm of McKeown, Fitzgerald, Zollner, Buck, Hutchison, and Ruttle in Joliet and Frankfort, where he reached the status of Partner; and

WHEREAS, George Sangmeister then represented the good people of the Greater Will County Area as State's Attorney and Magistrate in the Circuit Court; he served in the General Assembly as a State Representative from 1972 to 1976, and as a State Senator from 1976 to 1987; he also served in Congress from 1989 to 1995; and

WHEREAS, The law school, led by Dean John E. Corkery, Board of Trustees President Leonard F. Amari, Foundation President John R. Lee, and the Greater Will County Alumni, has established the George E. Sangmeister Memorial Public Service Scholarship to support those graduates, like George, who seek a career in the public sector; and

WHEREAS, The George E. Sangmeister Memorial Public Service Scholarship was presented at a gathering of Greater Will County Alumni at a reception hosted at the law offices of Mahoney, Silverman & Cross in Joliet, where George Sangmeister's widow, Doris, and his son, Kurt, were present to announce the scholarship; and

WHEREAS, At the same event, the law school celebrated the distinguished careers of two members of the Class of 1951, Judge John F. Cirricione and Judge William R. Penn, of the Will County Circuit Court; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the administration and faculty of John Marshall Law School for its continuing commitment to train men and women to serve the people of the State of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we recognize the distinguished career of George E. Sangmeister and the exemplary service he gave to the legal profession and the State of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Mrs. Doris H. Sangmeister and the John Marshall Law School Board of Trustees as a symbol of our esteem and respect.