Students have returned to classes at the Creighton University School of Law.

First-year students started out last Tuesday with orientation, and they began classes Thursday, while second- and third-year students are starting classes today.

Creighton Law is welcoming 118 first-year students, and its total enrollment this fall is 331.

Laurie Smith Camp, a senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, gave the 1Ls their student oath during an orientation session last Tuesday.

“I look forward to seeing you in the coming year as you compete in moot court and mock trial competitions,” Smith Camp said.

Creighton Law’s new dean, Joshua P. Fershée, said in an interview that he told the 1Ls that he and the faculty have their back.

“I think that’s our job and I think it’s important that they hear it that way,” Fershée said. “Meaning that I have your back does not mean that you always get what you want, but it does mean that I’m always looking out for you.”

Fershée said the Creighton Law community is one that is chosen – by the students, by himself and by the others who work as part of it.

“We are in a unique opportunity where we get to decide what that community is going to be like, how we treat each other, what we expect of each other and what our future can be,” he said.

First-year students begin orientation Aug. 21 at the University of Nebraska College of Law. Nebraska Law’s fall semester begins for all students on Aug. 26.

Finals are Dec. 9-18 at Nebraska, and Dec. 2-13 at Creighton.