LETTER FROM THE DEAN
Welcome to this edition of The Record ! It is an exciting time in the life of Boston University School of Law, as we are just months away from the opening of the new Sumner M. Redstone Building. In October, we kicked off Alumni and Reunion Weekend 2013 with the Redstone Building Celebration, held in place of last spring’s cancelled Groundbreaking Ceremony. Over 250 people gathered on Alpert Mall to watch a video about the new building and to listen to remarks from BU President Robert A. Brown, Building on Excellence Campaign Chair Richard Godfrey (’79), and BU Law student Meghan Kelly (’15). Since Sumner Redstone (Hon. ’94) was unable to attend the ceremony, former BU Law Dean William Schwartz (’55) read a message from him. Guests were then invited to view the building model and join in a champagne toast to this important milestone in BU Law’s history. I was delighted to see so many of you at this festive event because it is through your generosity and support that we have been able to undertake this long-awaited project. We are just over halfway to our campaign goal of $80 million, which will fund not only the building project, but also financial aid, faculty support, academic programs, and the Law Fund. Each of these initiatives will help sustain the superior legal education BU Law has always offered and will ensure that we can continue to provide the programming that will best prepare our students in this particularly difficult economy. Throughout this edition, you will notice the theme “Thinking Forward,” which has become our mantra for this year, but really has been BU Law’s mindset for some time now. In these pages you will see how we have been evolving in response to the changing legal marketplace—ramping up career resources, practical training programs, and student financial aid, while cutting costs and class size—so that today’s students can become the successful lawyers of tomorrow. The Redstone Building represents an important milestone in this effort, and the Q&A with architect Leland Cott lays out how this state-of-the-art facility will support modern legal education. You will learn how we have increased the size of our Career Development & Public Service Office to aid students
and recent graduates in the employment search, and how the expansion of our clinical, transactional law, and legal writing programs has better equipped students to succeed on the job from day one. Alumni profiles showcase the leadership of many of our graduates during this time of extraordinary change in legal education. And, since superior teaching is a hallmark of the BU Law experience, you will hear from two faculty members on their passion for education and why BU Law students are so outstanding. As an institution, we will continue to evolve as the law and job market require. In fact, a series of faculty working sessions this fall—including one with alumni—has provided us with new ideas on how to address our challenges. But one thing will remain the same: our global network of alumni is the backbone of the BU Law community. Thank you to all who have contributed to the School of Law by mentoring students, serving on career panels, and helping our students find jobs. And, of course, many thanks for your generous financial support. All of these activities and commitments are the reason we are able to build for the future. Never has there been a more important moment to invest in Boston University School of Law. I encourage you to keep thinking forward with us—how can we best support the current and future generations of BU Law students? I look forward to seeing you in my travels around the country this year and, I hope, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Sumner M. Redstone Building in the fall!
MAUREEN A. O’ROURKE, DEAN
THE RECORD
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FALL 2013
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