LMU Loyola Law School turns 100 in 2020, and we plan to use it not just as a time to look back, but also a time to look forward.
From the beginning, the law school has stood for social justice and diversity. We started out as an evening program in 1920 in what is now Loyola High School in downtown Los Angeles. Our first graduating class comprised just eight students – including one woman. Later, we moved to Third and Broadway, inaugurating our Day Division in 1930.
We then moved to Grand Avenue. But it was not long before an expanding student body required more space, inspiring our transition in 1964 to our current Albany Street location. It is here that Frank Gehry gave us a “campus designed for the study of law.”
Over the years, our efforts have included a number of firsts: first ABA-approved law school in California with a pro bono requirement, first community-based immigrant advocacy clinic housed at a law school, first cybersecurity & data privacy program in the West, first disability law advocacy center of its kind…the list goes on and on.
But our most enduring legacy is our alumni, who have gone on to become governors, mayors, social-justice pioneers, judges, law-firm partners, public-service heroes – and even law professors. You have and always will make us proud.
As we look forward to our next 100 years, we are poised to capitalize on a range of initiatives that fuse law, business and technology. Our commitment to social justice and innovation has compelled us to find new ways to bridge the access-to-justice gap.
We look forward to all the hope and opportunity that the next century will bring. We have an exciting year of centennial celebrations in store. It begins with our Grand Alumni Society Lunch and its accompanying Deans' Fireside Chat, which will feature a discussion led by Dean Michael Waterstone with past Deans David W. Burcham, Victor J. Gold, Paul T. Hayden and Frederick J. Lower.
[Read more about Loyola Law School's named scholarships.]