The local lawyer recently appointed chair of the Binghamton University Council by Gov. David Paterson is connected to the University in a number of ways — including her founding of a club sports team.
Kathryn Grant Madigan, a lawyer with Levene Gouldin & Thompson, LLP, will be replacing John Spring, who has served as council chair since 1999.
“I’m encouraging him [Spring] to stay on the Council, as he still has a couple years remaining in his term,” Madigan said. “He brings great perspective and background to the Council.”
The Council is made up of 10 members, including one student collectively appointed by both the undergraduate and graduate student bodies. According to members, the body has a number of responsibilities, including the search for a new University president, should the spot be vacated.
“Specific duties of the council include a review of budget requests, the naming of buildings and grounds on campus and final approval of each year’s Student Code of Conduct,” said Peter Spaet, the student representative to the Council.
Madigan was first appointed to the Council earlier this year by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer. She said she believed her appointment to the chair was in part due to her ongoing contact with Paterson’s office.
Madigan also served as president of the New York State Bar Association from June 2007 to May 2008.
“He [Gov. Paterson] and his staff are aware of my deep commitment to the mission of BU as well as my leadership positions at the local, state and national level,” Madigan said.
Madigan said she is also dedicated to the establishment of a law school at BU, something she said she feels is extremely lacking in the State University of New York system.
“Right now there is only CUNY Law, which specializes in training lawyers to practice in poor, underserved communities, and Buffalo University, which has a good law school, but Binghamton has much stronger law-related programs,” she said.
Though Spitzer had announced that SUNY University at Buffalo and SUNY Stony Brook University should become the flagship universities of the SUNY system, Madigan said she believed that BU should not be counted out.
“Those campuses are still promoting the flagship idea,” she said, “but if you look at Binghamton’s track record and the quality of the programs I think it is clear that Binghamton would be the ideal choice for a new, top-tier public law school here in New York.”
Last year, Madigan was one of the few members of the Council against a proposed change in the Code of Conduct, which now requires students to come out in the hall if asked to by a residential assistant.
“I thought there were other, less intrusive remedies, but majority of the Board determined otherwise,” Madigan said. “And I will support it.”
Chair of BU Council is not Madigan’s only position at BU. She is also the newly elected vice chair of the BU Foundation Board and a member, as well as the former chair, of the Harpur Forum. Madigan also founded a women’s rugby team which is now the official team of the University.