As the 2004-05 academic year moved to a close, so did our yearlong sesquicentennial celebration. On September 9, 1854, seven young men became the first to enroll in the University of Mississippi’s newly created Department of Law. Three of them received their degrees in 1856. Two others obviously read law because one later became a district attorney and the other, who already had received his undergraduate degree from the fledgling university before enrolling in the law program, became a circuit court judge. History does not record what became of the remaining two. On May 14, 2005, under a leaden sky and occasional rain, 201 graduating seniors were hooded in the law school’s graduation ceremony. My classmate and longtime friend Charlie Swayze addressed the graduates in keeping with the tradition of having the president of the Mississippi Bar deliver the graduation address.

The law school has enjoyed another successful year. On Feb. 17 more than 300 alumni and guests attended the law school’s 150th Anniversary Gala held in Jackson. The evening offered an opportunity to celebrate all that we have accomplished and to look forward to a bright future. Former deans David Shipley and Parham Williams reflected on their time at the law school and shared fond memories of Oxford and Ole Miss.

Another exciting development for the law school is the reorganization and expansion of the Lamar Order. In this issue, you can read about the exciting changes for the school’s premier philanthropic organization. For over 26 years the Lamar Order has led the way in generating private support for the school and can now boast a $2 million endowment. We at the law school are very grateful for the financial support provided by alumni and friends. Your support is the difference between a good law school and a great one.

The law school also underwent its accreditation site evaluation by the ABA (with participation by the Association of American Law Schools) in early March. As of this writing I have not received the written report of the site visit team, but on their last day with us the team members shared their initial impressions with me. The team saw many positives and very few negatives during their visit to the law school. For the last three site visits, concerns have been expressed about the adequacy of funding for our law library, and this year was no exception. I expect that in our response to the team’s report, as well as in our response to the ABA action letter that will follow, we will have to address this issue once again. Nevertheless, this is not an issue that poses insurmountable difficulties, and I anticipate that our accreditation will be renewed.

Obtaining a clean bill of health from the ABA is the first step toward petitioning for a chapter of Order of the Coif. Obtaining a chapter of Coif, the equivalent in legal education of Phi Beta Kappa, has been a longtime goal of the UM School of Law and one of my personal goals as dean. I hope that we will be able to submit a petition by November 2006 that will be acted on by the Coif Executive Committee at their annual meeting in January 2007. Since our last contact with the committee almost 10 years ago, we have made great strides in the two areas that were identified at that time as weaknesses: the quality of our student body and the scholarly productivity of our faculty. The overall credentials of our entering classes have gone up dramatically over the last 10 years, and our faculty are publishing more often in the top journals in the country. Most law schools in the Southeast obtained chapters of Coif in the 1920s and 1930s or even earlier. Our time has come.

Finally, plans for a new law building are moving forward. Details about this project will be shared with all of you in the near future as they take shape. Needless to say, all of us are working hard to make sure that the law school has the facilities and resources it needs to continue its leadership role in the state and increasingly in the nation.

Soon I will complete my eighth year as dean. I will continue to serve as long as I have the support of the university administration, our faculty, students and you, our alumni. I am truly blessed and privileged to hold this office in a long line of succession dating back to William Forbes Stearns and, of course, L.Q.C. Lamar. This is an exciting time in the life of the law school, and I look forward to another great year.



Samuel M. Davis (JD ‘69)
Dean and Jamie L. Whitten Professor
of Law and Government

Back to top