OXFORD, Miss. – The threat of bad weather that forced an
indoor groundbreaking for the new law school facility
Saturday did not dampen the excitement surrounding the
event.
Applause, smiles and laughter filled the first floor mall
of the current law school as a handful of officials
ceremoniously turned dirt in a rectangular box to signify
the official beginning of the new building’s construction.
More than 200 law alumni, students, faculty and friends
were on hand for the event.
“You see old men dream dreams,” said William F. Goodman
Jr., co-chair of the national steering committee. “But at
this moment, we are all dreaming one collective dream: a
law school with new opportunities, respect and reputation.”
Goodman added that his participation in the campaign to
build the new facility is a special cause to him
personally. “My small part in this undertaking is not at
all a small event in my life,” he said.
Goodman joined Chancellor Robert Khayat, Dean Samuel M.
Davis, IHL President Stacy Davidson, law alumnus Al Povall,
former provost Carolyn Ellis Staton, architect Jim Ely, Law
School Student Body president Parker Wiseman and Black Law
Student Association representative Roslyn Griffin in the
groundbreaking.
The site for the new facility on Coliseum Drive has been
cleared, and bids on the construction are expected in early
April. The $50 million facility, with an opening date of
fall 2010, is to provide state-of-the-art classrooms and
space for clinics. It also promises a new gateway onto the
campus, Khayat said.
“The new facility will welcome people onto Coliseum Drive,
and it will be a warm Ole Miss welcome,” he said.
The new facility is to feature classrooms tailored to using
the Socratic method of teaching, meaning they will be
designed in a horseshoe shape to facilitate discussion and
interaction. An added advantage of the project is that
plans call for the old law facility to be renovated to
provide much needed space for undergraduate classrooms.
The new facility also is designed to add to the aesthetic
beauty of the campus with a Greek style similar to that of
the Lyceum. Its spaciousness is intended to provide
opportunities to expand the school’s existing clinical
programs, as well as the two national centers located at
the law school.
The building will ensure the continued success of the law
school, Davis said. “As I often say, no institution stays
great or gets better by standing still,” he said.
The overall campaign for the law school aims to raise $60
million, with $3 million going to scholarships, $4 million
to the new law library, $2 million to faculty support and
$1 million to clinic support. As of the groundbreaking, the
campaign was approximately $5 million short of its goal.
Weekend events also included reunion dinners for the
classes of 1993, 1983, 1968, 1958 and earlier.
For more information on the law campaign, visit http://www.umlawcampaign.com.
For more information on the School of Law, visit http://www.law.olemiss.edu.