School of Law Fall Celebration Returns September 16-18, 2021

The University of Oregon School of Law’s annual Fall Celebration for alumni and friends is back this year after last year’s event was held remotely to help keep our community healthy and safe. This year’s four-day celebration is packed full using a blend of virtual and in-person events.

Fall Celebration kicks off virtually with Oregon Law Perspectives September 16 at noon. Professor of Practice Howard Arnett will lead a discussion breaking down the latest Indian Law decision from the Supreme Court, US v. Cooley. Later that day, Dean Marcilynn A. Burke presents The State of the Law School.

The O’Connell Conference, comprised of four individual one-hour hybrid sessions, takes place on September 17. The webinar is open to the public and is being offered via Zoom or webinar viewing at Oregon Law. These sessions explore many relevant topics. Webinars cover the 2021 Oregon Legislative Session: Criminal Law Reform and the Road Ahead; Reinventing Reentry and Reducing Recidivism for a Better Justice System; Perspectives on Policing: What Does Justice Look Like?; and Oregon Courts: Moving Toward Justice and Improved Outcomes for Individuals with Mental Health Challenges. Twelve different panelists will be featured during the presentations.

In the early evening of Friday, September 17, Oregon Law hosts the Multicultural Alumni and Student Happy Hour on the Knight Law Center Courtyard. Following that event, the law school celebrates the 2021 Alumni Award recipients with a dinner. The dinner will take place in-person outside on the Knight Law Center lawn. The 2021 Alumni Award recipients include Don Corson, BS ’76, JD ’85, and Kurt Hansen, JD ’84, (posthumously) for the John E. Jaqua Distinguished Alumni Award. Bruce Lamb, JD ’84. and Benjamin Beijing Wang, JD ’98, will receive the Minoru Yasui Justice Award. Michael Steven Brewer, JD ’12, Moorisha Bey Taylor, JD ’11, and Sigvanna “Meghan” Topkok, JD ’17, will receive Outstanding Recent Alumni Awards.

On Saturday, September 18, the Class of 1971 will hold their 50th reunion brunch. A tailgate party and the University of Oregon football game will cap off the week of events.

All events will observe applicable health and safety guidelines. According to University Health Services, results from Monday, August 23, show that 99.4% of the Law community have complied with the vaccine notification requirement. Of those, 97.3% are fully vaccinated and 2.2% exempt requested an exemption. The law school encourages everyone to be safe and to be thoughtful of others during the celebration.

All events are open to the public. Register, or for the full schedule of Fall Celebration Events.