Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered the keynote address for the dedication of the School of Law's new Star Commons and newly renovated Goodson Law Library Saturday, concluding a week of programming celebrating the structures that officials said will enhance the school's national repute.
Speaking in the Star Commons, a building with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, Kennedy said the open design of the Commons would allow "light to inform our work," and the theme for the dedication ceremony was "Enlightened."
More than 500 faculty, staff, alumni and current law students filled the 4,000 sq.-ft. Star Commons to hear Kennedy, who was joined onstage by President Richard Brodhead, David Levi, dean of the School of Law, Richard Danner, associate dean for library and computer services, Professor of Law Thomas Metzloff, who oversaw construction and Allyson Duncan, 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge and Law '75.
"The renovation of our building represents a commitment on the part of our alumni to the future of Duke law school," Levi said in a statement. "We now have facilities that match the strength of our faculty and students. As spectacular as this building is, we are most proud of the community it symbolizes and the work it facilitates."
In his speech, Kennedy urged those in attendance to spread the rule of law throughout the world.
"There are six billion people in the world and probably half of them live outside the rule of law," Kennedy said. "For them the law is an obstruction, not a necessity. We still must make the case for the rule of law."
The renovations, which were completed August 2008 and 3 percent under budget, were no small task, the University's Director of Project Management Paul Manning said. This summer was one of the busiest for on-campus construction, with more than 50 projects totaling $150 million in the works, he added.
When drawing up blueprints for the new structures, officials hoped to better integrate the School of Law with its surroundings, Metzloff said.
"Everyone said we looked like an Iowa high school, but we wanted to be a Duke building," he said.
Construction would have initially cost the University more than it had hoped to pay, but the construction firm cut expenses and Duke raised additional funds for the project to meet in the middle, Manning said.
Several alumni said they hope the new world-class facilities would increase the School of Law's national prominence.
"The new Star Commons are going to take us to a new level to attract students to the law school," said Wells Hall, Law '73, who currently practices law at the world-renowned firm Mayer Brown LLP.
Some current students said the learning environment fostered by the new spaces would help the School of Law train its students to be more than just lawyers.
"From the moment I walked into the building, the people seemed different," said Jillian Harrison, a second-year law student, who is also internal vice president of the Duke Bar Association. "We are an institution built to do more than make lawyers. We are committed to creating complete people."
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