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Louisiana College Spends $5 Million On A Law School That May Not Open

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Louisiana College has spent more than $5 million on a law school that has not opened its doors or admitted a student, Campus Reform reported.

The private Baptist institution in Pineville announced the opening of the Judge Paul Pressler School of Law in 2008 and purchased the former Joe D. Waggonner Federal Building in Shreveport in 2011 to house it. However, there are no plans to open the law school in the future.

"Due to the unforeseen developments with accreditation and other issues on the main campus in Pineville in 2012, our hands in Shreveport became tied and the law school project inevitably delayed until the accreditation issues in Pineville could be fully corrected," J. Michael Johnson wrote in the April 2013 memo, according to Campus Reform, citing The Town Talk, an online source for public notice, obtained on Tuesday.

Louisiana College spent about $4.6 million in renovations to the building in two years, the Shreveport Times reported, citing 990 tax forms from the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years.  The school paid for asbestos abatement in 2012 on the 154,000-square-foot building. Repairs to the roof, elevators, the HVAC system, electrical and plumbing were also made.

The former Joe D. Waggonner Federal Building has been listed with Sealy Real Estate Services LLC since 2013 and its agent, Beth F. King, told The Town Talk last April that it could be listed for about $4 million - less than what the college spent on repairs alone.

The Advertiser reported that Louisiana College paid about $400,000 on salaries in the 18 months the law school had employees.

Joe Aguillard, president of Louisiana College, blamed the accreditation problems on Johnson "failing to complete applications timely or correctly," Campus Reform reported, citing a letter from former LC board member Heath Veuleman dated Dec. 5, 2012.

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