UW Class Law School Class of 2026 . . . dressed up.

 Incoming University of Wyoming College of Law class (Class of 2026).

Wow, look at all those suits and ties.

These students are a nice looking bunch.  A colleague of mine, who works in another firm, has a kid in it.  

I didn't meet my law school classmates until the first day of law school.  This group was apparently brought in early, and told to dress up.  The first time I wore a tie in law school was actually after it, at my bar exam interview, back when Wyoming had a real bar exam rather than the Universal Locally Un-iformed Bar Exam.

I'm impressed. This is what a law school entering class should look like, and I hope it bodes well for the future.

UW College of Law Graduation Spring 2021

1920, law, and the Geology Museum

I learned just the other day that the University of Wyoming College of Law was founded in 1920, and received ABA approval in 1923.

Shoot, that's a lot earlier than I thought. I had thought, for some reason, that the College of Law dated from after World War Two. It sort of redefines my concepts of what the university regarded as worthwhile or important early on. When the College of Law was founded, I think the school was about 30 years old.

In other news, the University has had to cut its budget fairly significantly due to the decline in mineral revenues. Nearly the entire state budget is funded through severance taxes, which have taken a real hit in the last year. The change in economic fortunes has been massive, due to the national slow down, and the regional decline in the value of natural gas. So, as a result, Gov. Freudenthal has ordered ever state agency to cut back, and also enacted a general hiring freeze.

The University has taken the ax to distance programs, I guess (I'm not really up on that). But as part of the cutbacks, the very old Geology Museum is being closed.

It's a shame. I'll admit that I find it sad, as I'm a graduate of the Geology Department. I hate to see it close. I don't know how old it is, but it's real darned old. I don't disagree with the need to cut back, but I find it very difficult to accept that a cut back in a feature of a hard science department is academically sound.