Vince Champion

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Vince Champion ’01 entered law school expecting to become a criminal defense attorney. More than two decades later, his career has taken him through federal courtrooms, private practice, and ownership of his own law firm to Dickinson College, where he now serves as vice president and general counsel.

Champion handles legal matters that touch nearly every part of the liberal arts college. He advises administrators and faculty, evaluates potential legal concerns and connects the institution with outside counsel when an issue requires additional expertise.

He compares the work to taking a law school exam every day.

“It’s issue spotting all the time,” Champion said. “Almost every area of the law touches Dickinson in one way or another.”

The variety is part of what makes the position interesting, but Champion finds the greatest meaning in seeing Dickinson’s students on campus and knowing his work supports their education.

“My small role here on campus, or whatever I’m doing on campus, helps each of these students access education,” he said. “Every day, I really see the results of the work that I do.”

Champion’s interest in law began before he fully understood what practicing law involved. He grew up in Media, Pennsylvania, and visited the local courthouse during a second-grade field trip.

“My whole world was opened to the law, lawyers and judges,” Champion said. “Having that exposure from that trip really sparked my interest.”

He carried that interest to Shippensburg University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communication with a minor in government. Champion chose the major because he imagined himself becoming a trial attorney and wanted to strengthen his public speaking and presentation skills.

By his senior year, however, he was also considering becoming a professor and had been accepted into a graduate program. Before committing, he decided to spend a year working in Dauphin County’s legal system to determine whether the career he had imagined since childhood was still the right one.

It was.

Champion chose the evening division at Widener University School of Law, now Widener University Commonwealth Law School, which allowed him to work full time while earning his law degree.

He began with Dauphin County Pretrial Services and later worked for the Community Action Association of Pennsylvania, where he used his growing understanding of the legislative process to advocate for low-income Pennsylvanians.

During his final year of law school, Champion secured a full-time legal internship with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. The experience gave him an opportunity to begin applying what he was learning in the classroom to legal issues facing an organization.

“It immersed me in the law in terms of practicing and really applying what I learned in the evening division,” he said.

Champion also found mentors among the law school’s faculty. He remembers taking torts and constitutional law with Professor Randy Lee and learning from Professor Emeritus Michael Cozzillio, Professor Emeritus John Gedid, Professor Robyn Meadows and Professor Susan Raeker-Jordan.

“I thought the faculty were just outstanding,” he said.

After graduating in 2001, Champion remained with PHEAA as in-house counsel. Much of his work involved federal bankruptcy court, allowing him to build experience in federal civil procedure and litigation.

Attorneys in the office were assigned specific areas of the agency to advise, an arrangement that helped Champion learn how to listen to clients, understand their goals, and guide them through legal decisions.

Eager to broaden his experience, Champion moved into private practice with Harrisburg-based Rhoads & Sinon LLP. There, he was introduced to education law and began representing schools and other educational institutions.

He later fulfilled another longtime goal by opening Champion Law Office LLC. As the firm’s owner and lead attorney, he advised educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and businesses on matters including employment law, student rights, Title IX, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

When the general counsel position at Dickinson became available, Champion saw an opportunity to bring together the skills he had developed throughout his career. His background in litigation, client counseling, education law, and law firm management prepared him to serve as an in-house legal adviser for the college.

The position also allows Champion, a first-generation college graduate and first-generation attorney, to continue supporting access to education. That commitment extends to his community service as a member of the Bosler Memorial Library Board of Directors in Carlisle.

Champion is also helping future attorneys explore careers in higher education. Dickinson’s Office of General Counsel offers an externship for law students interested in learning how attorneys advise a college or university.

Champion hopes Widener Law Commonwealth students will consider the externship. Spending a semester inside a general counsel’s office, he said, can help students determine whether higher education or in-house practice is right for them. It also gives them a firsthand look at how the subjects they study in law school surface in the daily work of a college.

As students begin building their own careers, Champion encourages them to focus on something within their control: preparation. Experience has value, he said, but younger attorneys can earn trust and represent their clients effectively by putting in the work before entering a courtroom, meeting or negotiation.

“Always be prepared and make sure you’ve put the work in on the front end to represent your client’s interests to the best of your ability,” Champion said. “Even though you may not have as many years under your belt, you can still do a really effective job for your client because you’re prepared.”

Interview conducted in Fall 2026.