Project Cost and Construction

Project Cost, the Building and Endowment Campaign, Campaign and Project Oversight, and the Current Use of Morrison Constitution Hall

As noted, the construction cost of the new law center and for other project components was substantial. This cost figure includes various collateral cost components, including architectural and consulting fees; site development and utility re-conformation; furniture, fixture and equipment costs; computer and audio visual technology; building commissioning; landscaping; existing site facilities demolition costs; moving; artwork and archival acquisition and campaign overhead (which has been just over two percent of the law center cost, and which extends to the substantial endowment gift development that has occurred as part of the campaign).

As we commenced the new building project in 1992 and thereafter, our first objective was to develop a very significant part of the funds through significant seven and six figure "anchor" gifts. Once our funding success in this effort was substantially assured through anchor gift commitments, we made plans for a comprehensive general campaign, named simply the "Building and Endowment Campaign," to complete funding of the new facility and to raise further endowment funds for the Law School. The open campaign commenced in May 1999 and is on-going, with the gifts raised already significantly exceeding the project cost. The entire Law School capital and endowment campaign, in both its anchor gift phase and in its general phase, has been the responsibility of Dean Brad Toben and has been developed and implemented from the Office of the Dean in the Law School.

Since the start of the planning of the project in 1992, the Law School, through Prof. Bill Trail as Chair, and Prof. Mike Morrison, Prof. Brandon Quarles, Prof. Bill Underwood, Associate Dean Leah Witcher Jackson, and Dean Toben, has been the principal liaison with the architect and contractor on all matters, both major and minor, involving the project. We have been involved in this fashion because we have had a tremendous pride in the creation of a home for our law school that reflects in a personal way our deep commitment to educating and training outstanding lawyers. The entire process has put our students, and the quality of their educational experience, first and foremost.

The named components within Morrison Hall have been appropriately carried over to the new law center, with the exception of the Morrison Constitution Hall name itself, which will be retained on the current structure on account of the terms and nature of the original gift. Morrison Constitution Hall has been turned over to the University and is undergoing an approximate $2 million renovation for various uses by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School, including the departments of philosophy, modern foreign languages, classics, as well as various undergraduate honors programs and the dean’s office operations of the Graduate School.

While the new law center is more than twice the square footage of Morrison Constitution Hall, we do not plan for any increase in our current enrollment of about 400 (give or take about 10-15 in any particular quarter). We are the smallest law school in Texas and one of the smallest in the nation. Our small size is very important to our success. As legal education continues to evolve, we believe it will be important for Baylor Law School to remain competitive by building upon our strengths and by continuing to carve out a niche in legal education. To accomplish our mission and educational goals, we are convinced that the Law School must remain at its current size, or even a smaller size.

The Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center makes a powerful statement about the place and mission of Baylor Law School in legal education. We now have a home that matches the excellence of our program. The law center will meet every need of our school as we reach out aggressively to build upon our strength as a pre-eminent practice-oriented school, to heighten our profile in legal education and in the profession, and to make a Baylor Law School diploma credential even more valuable.