Letter From the Alumni Board President
As I begin serving as Alumni Board president, I feel lucky to be back at our law school as it celebrates its 100th year. That is correct—”Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College,” or “Lewis & Clark Law School,” or simply “LC”—is now heading into its second century. As this issue of Advocate Magazine explains, our law school was established as such in 1915, when the University of Oregon’s law department abandoned its Portland location in favor of a new site in Eugene. Our law school has endured and thrived in those 100 years, and it is deserving of a grand centennial celebration.
I emphasize that this is our law school because we alumni make it the special place it is. We are the students who learned to be lawyers here, whether we took classes at night in downtown Portland or during the day on the hill. We are the students who studied in the library while the sounds of construction on Wood Hall echoed in the background. We are the students who hunkered down during winter storms and hot early summer days to study for final exams.
Just as important, we are the students who are now alumni. We should celebrate with our fellow alumni as the law school enters its second century. This is a great time to remember the fun we had playing basketball on the undergraduate campus, or sitting in the quad enjoying a cold refreshment brought by a student group on a warm day when studying was still tomorrow’s problem.
Our law school’s centennial celebration is an opportunity to get together and share those stories. Last year I attended my class’s reunion. I was able to reconnect with classmates, some of whom I had not seen in a decade. We all looked like we had not aged a day! Or at least that is how I felt as I was drawn back those 10 years to the times we shared.
I look forward to getting together with you and other alumni from the other class years at some of the centennial celebration events our law school has planned during the school year. I cannot wait to hear your stories and memories of your time at our law school. Who was that favorite professor? Class? Great triumph? Humbling classroom experience? All of those stories are what make reunions and celebrations special. It will be my pleasure to share those with you.
So, if you see me around campus, at a centennial celebration event, or in town, please stop me and share your story. I promise not to bore you—too much, anyway—with my fond memories of our law school.
Sincerely,
Dan Eller ’04
