The University of Idaho law school says it will go ahead with a program in professionalism and diversity next week despite criticism from several legislators who objected to a requirement that a note be placed in students’ school records if they don’t attend.

But students won’t have to sit through the whole presentation to receive credit for attending.

Twenty-one lawmakers, including House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, and House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, said in a letter late last month that they understood the need to learn to work with people of different backgrounds. But the decision to put notes in the files of students who don’t attend amounted to a threat, they said.

“As a publicly funded institution, using the threat of a memo suggesting clearly that a student is unprofessional, bigoted or both for not attending an extracurricular activity not part of the University’s course catalog is simply unacceptable,” the letter said.

But law school dean Don Burnett says the 75-minute program is “the right thing to do,” because the school must prepare lawyers to work in a diverse society.

The school decided that the program would be required for all 360 students and 30 faculty at the law schools in Moscow and Boise, Burnett said. In previous programs that were not mandatory, attendance was thin, he said. “You just get kind of an echo chamber of people with similar views,” Burnett said.

Many students, however, were put off by the way the announcement of mandatory attendance was handled, said Brian Morris, 45, a third-year law student. Administrators could have said the class was mandatory and then explained the benefits. “I think it would probably have gone over a little bit better,” he said.

In a letter replying to the lawmakers, Burnett said he has apologized for what he called the “seemingly harsh tone” in his email to students saying they could face notes in their files if they did not have an excused absence. The note would say the student did not attend, Burnett wrote.

A law school accrediting group and a national law school association visiting the campus have encouraged the university to do more with diversity, Burnett said in a letter to lawmakers.

“Encouraging is not mandating,” said Moyle. “It seems like a waste of time and public resources.”

The program will be conducted by Blake Morant, dean of the law school at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. The program will be behind closed doors to allow students to speak freely, Burnett said.

Morant decided students who want to leave after the program’s introduction will receive credit for attending, Burnett said. That decision was not made because of the lawmakers’ letter, but is the way Morant decided to structure the sessions, Burnett said.

Five students have sought excuses from attending, and four were approved as of Monday, Burnett said.

Students with scheduling conflicts such as family or employment would be excused, he said.

Bill Roberts: 377-6408