the Weldon tradition

The Schulich Law community is guided by the Weldon Tradition of unselfish public service—of giving back to the community and making the world a better place.

Our founding dean Richard Chapman Weldon envisioned a very different kind of law school, one that not only provided students with a foundation in the practice of law but also instilled a sense of the power and responsibility of using law as a tool for social change.

Dean Weldon believed that every lawyer, regardless of area of practice, had an obligation to use their knowledge of the law to serve the community for the greater good. This belief came to be known as the Weldon Tradition of unselfish public service, and more than 140 years later, it remains in our DNA.