President George W. Bush announced that May 1, 2002 would be National Law Day.He declared his notions in a Proclamation on April 30:
‘On May 1, we observeLaw Day to draw attention to the principles of justice and the practice of law.
The theme of this year’s Law Day, ‘Celebrate Your Freedom: Assuring EqualJustice for All,’ acknowledges the essential task of protecting the rightsof every American. This Law Day, I encourage all Americans to reflect on thevital work performed by our Federal judiciary in upholding the rule of law andon the importance of a robust and independent judiciary in our system of Government.’
In the spirit of Law Day, the Alumni Association organized a trip to the CentralIslip Federal Courthouse for the second year in a row. Lawyer Joe Campolo, amember of the Alumni Relations, arranged for seven undergraduates to visit theoffices of Farrell Fritz, along with the courthouse.
The trip was advertised with organizations such as the Pre-Law Society andwas funded by the Alumni Association and the offices of Farrell Fritz. The visitconsisted of a tour of the courthouse, along with a meeting with magistrateJudge Wall.
Students were also given the opportunity to view court proceedings to get abetter idea of how the inside of a courtroom functioned. At the lawyer’#146;soffices, students were advised on a range of topics, including the appropriatemanner with which to approach the application process.
In planning the trip, the basic objective was to help students who are in thestage of choosing a major and possible career goal.
According to Sandra Skinner from Alumni Relations, ‘the trip was heldin order to provide guidance to students interested in the law profession. WhenJoe was interested in law, he didn’#146;t know what to do. The main goal ofthis trip was to help the students that may be in the same shoes he was in.’