Purdue director of student legal services begins Tuesday (Sept. 3)

Leslie A. Charters Download Photo

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Leslie A. Charters, a Tippecanoe County deputy public defender and former deputy prosecutor, on Tuesday (Sept. 3) will become Purdue's first director of student legal services.

The new position is part of the university's Office of the Dean of Students and is funded by Student Fee Advisory Board funds, said Jeffery Stefancic, associate dean of students. She will be housed in the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities.

"The creation of student legal services for the university was identified as a need and driven by Purdue Student Government," Stefancic said. "As young adults, students are learning both their legal rights and the responsibilities that they have under the law, and this position will go a long way in educating and advocating for students in those areas."

Charters, a graduate and four-year women's golf team member at Western Kentucky University and a 2009 Valparaiso University School of Law graduate, has worked as a public defender in the Tippecanoe County Public Defender's Office since January. Before that, she was a Tippecanoe County deputy prosecutor.

At Purdue, she will be available to meet individually with undergraduate students facing common legal issues and will play a large role in providing preventative educational programming for students about the law and their responsibilities under the law.

Charters also will maintain regular contact with Purdue Student Government to provide updates on student services and find ways to improve the program.

Writer: Jim Bush, 765-494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu