Faculty, students and community members came together Tuesday afternoon at the Knight Law School to formally open the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics.
The center is an extension of the Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics, created in 1978 to honor the memory of one of Oregon’s most influential U.S. senators, Wayne L. Morse. Every year, a distinguished member of the community serves as a chairholder to stimulate discussion in his or her area of law.
More than 30 people attended the ceremony and listened to speeches by University President Dave Frohnmayer, law school Dean Rennard Strickland and law professor Margaret Hallock, who will serve as director of the center.
Strickland opened the ceremonies, which were held in the Morse Commons at the law school, and said one of the greatest honors of working with the chair was serving in the memory of Wayne Morse.
Frohnmayer’s speech followed, and he took note of the $1.8 million donation from the estate of Morse’s good friend Ed Conklin that funded the law school commons and chair office, and launched the center.
He said the center will be “a true crown jewel” in interdisciplinary studies and will continue to impact the community.
“The center improves the community and has always improved the community,” he said.
Hallock said it was a “tremendous privilege” to become the center’s director after working with each chair for the last 12 years. She said the center is a way for the University to deal with community issues in the form of healthy debate.
“The center has authentic links to the community and the true and purest discussion,” she said.
In addition to working with the community, Hallock said the center will become a resource for students of all departments by hosting more speakers and activities to deal with timely issues of law and politics.
Students will also be able to earn fellowships through the law school to work with the center. The first three recipients, Aaron James, Tiffany Harris and Michael Arnold, were on hand for the opening ceremonies.
“It’s quite an honor, especially considering [Wayne Morse],” Arnold said, “I admire him; he’s just got tenacity I admire.”
He added he also was honored to receive the fellowship because it will involve him in several community events and service projects, which he said were at the core of a lawyer’s profession.
Harris said the fellowship was a validation of what she wants to do with her law degree. She said because of all the different aspects of law, many law students lose focus, but earning the fellowship has given her a definite idea about what she wants to do in the community.