U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is scheduled to become the 10th Justice to visit the University of Kansas on March 10.

Ten is a pretty good number for the University, said Webb Hecker, associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Law. Justices tend to visit East Coast law schools more often because they are seen as more prestigious and closer to Washington D.C., Hecker said.

“We’ve had more than our fair share considering where we’re located,” Hecker said.

Four Justices have visited the University since 2000, Hecker said. He attributed the increase in visiting Justices to the work of former dean Stephen McAllister.

McAllister worked as a clerk for Justice Byron White and Justice Clarence Thomas, both of whom have visited the law school, Hecker said.

Hecker said McAllister tried to invite a balance of Justices. Ginsburg is a more liberal Justice and will present different views from those of conservative Justice Thomas, who visited in October, Hecker said.

But students have much to gain from visiting Justices, regardless of their political stance, Hecker said. Besides improving the reputation of the law school, the meetings give students a new perception of the Justices themselves, Hecker said.

“They get to see how impressive they really are, and they get to see that they’re just regular human beings, too,” Hecker said.

Ginsburg will give students a perspective on being the second woman to ever be on the Supreme Court, said Carly Farrell, Overland Park second-year law student. Farrell, who is also the president of the Women in Law organization, said Ginsburg was a role model for women.

“It’s important to see someone who can balance being a wife, a mother and a lawyer and still be very successful,” Farrell said.

Visits can help personify some of the material law students study, said Carolyn Porto Johnson, an adjunct lecturer in political science.

“They benefit by getting to see the person who writes the opinions that they’ll be studying,” she said, “and they’ll be studying them a lot.”

Between now and March, the law school will organize the logistics of Ginsburg’s visit, said Jennifer Colaner, events coordinator for the law school. During her visit, Ginsburg will lecture in about four different classes at the law school. The lectures will be open only to law students.