Midwest Pre-Law Advisors Honor Founding Member Fee

Senior assistant dean Bob Fee says that receiving an honor for something he did 30 years ago made him feel “old” but “still gratified.” He is referring to the award the Midwest Association of Pre-Law Advisors (MAPLA) recently gave him for being one of the founding members and past presidents of the organization. “When they notified me, they said they wanted to recognize the ‘surviving’ members,” he chuckles. “It’s not the most reassuring adjective in the world.”

Nevertheless, he is quick to add that he is grateful for the recognition and the success of the organization and what it did for students. MAPLA’s contribution to pre-law students seeking guidance about the highly competitive law school admissions process is indisputable, as Fee notes.

Prior to 1975, there was almost no information for pre-law advisors to use in helping their advisees, so Fee and other advisors from the Midwest formed MAPLA so that they would no longer be isolated and without information about admissions procedures. He recalls, “We also lobbied law school establishments to receive results of our students’ applications so we could advise future students of their chances for success. And we won.”

In fact, they were so successful that today MAPLA has branches on hundreds of college campuses in 10 states.” At UC the organization is represented by the Pre- Professional Advising Center (PPAC), which works with both pre-law and pre-medical students. MAPLA is so active that during its annual conference, it sponsors a caravan of admissions officers from more than 100 law schools traveling to five different cities across the Midwest.”

When Fee was presented with a plaque recognizing his contributions as both a founder and past president, he remembers thinking, “A pretty good group for a ‘surviving’ member to be associated with.”