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Historical Campus Tour

Danforth Campus

Opening of Anheuser-Busch Hall

logo of W.U. Record Vol. 21 No. 16 Jan. 16, 1997
Procession leading to Anheuser-Busch Hall

Accompanied by a bagpiper and by bitter-cold temperatures, School of Law students, faculty and staff on Friday, Jan. 10, symbolically marked the move from Mudd Hall to the new Anheuser-Busch Hall with a procession of flags, historic portraits, the school seal and the school's National Mock Trial Competition championship cup. Photo by Joe Angeles.

An Excellent Foundation: Opening of Anheuser-Busch Hall ushers in 'a new era in legal education'

School of Law students are enthusiastic about their bright, spacious surroundings in the newly opened Anheuser-Busch Hall.

"When we were over in Mudd Hall, we used to call this (the new building) 'The Promised Land,'" said Kemba Logan, a first-year law student and a 1993 undergraduate alumna of the John M. Olin School of Business. "This building is so much better. It's more conducive to learning. People's grades will be better."

Teneisha Webb, a second-year law student, agreed. "It's beautiful. It's clean. It makes me want to be here," she said.

Webb, Logan and the rest of the law students started the spring semester Jan. 6 in the newly constructed Anheuser-Busch Hall.

Relaxing in the student commons between classes last week, third-year students Grant DeProw and William Burris said the new building's size took some getting used to.

"It was somewhat overwhelming walking in," DeProw said. "It's so much larger architecturally. But it makes it much more pleasant to be here. Before, I would come and go from Mudd Hall as quickly as possible."

Burris added: "The classrooms seemed immense, but the sound was much improved. Every seat is a good seat."

Designed in collaboration with students, faculty, staff and alumni, the five-story Anheuser-Busch Hall blends unique features of space, design, lighting and the latest technology to create a first-rate teaching, learning and research environment. With its traditional Missouri rose granite exterior and stately presence, the collegiate Gothic facility embodies the historic significance of the law and offers an atmosphere of pride and inspiration.

Braving frigid temperatures on Friday, Jan. 10, students, faculty and staff symbolically marked the move from Mudd Hall to Anheuser-Busch Hall with a procession of portraits, flags and the school seal. In recognition of the law school's 130-year history, the procession included portraits of Wiley Rutledge, former dean and U.S. Supreme Court justice; Phoebe Wilson Couzins, the law school's and Washington University's first female graduate (1871); and Walter Moran Farmer, the first African-American graduate (1889). Other celebratory events are planned throughout the year, culminating with a formal dedication Sept. 26 featuring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

"The transfer of symbols of the School of Law marks the beginning of a new era in legal education at Washington University," said Dean Dorsey D. Ellis Jr., J.D. "But, as these tangible artifacts of our history symbolize, the future of the school is founded upon a rich 130-year tradition."

The 175,000-square-foot facility is named in recognition of a generous gift from the Anheuser-Busch Foundation given in honor of retired Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. executive and law school alumnus Fred L. Kuhlmann.

Anheuser-Busch Hall is twice the size of the adjacent Mudd Hall, which could not be cost-effectively renovated to address the law school's space needs and accommodate advances in legal education and technology.

As for the future of Mudd Hall, the University contracted an architectural firm to study the facility and offer suggestions for its use. Phase I calls for renovating classroom space for the University's classroom pool. Phase II calls for the rest of the building to be used to temporarily house people while other University buildings are renovated.

The increased square footage of Anheuser-Busch Hall allows for greatly expanded study space, including group study rooms and more than 180 study carrels. The facility also features nine state-of-the-art classrooms and seminar rooms designed to encourage student participation and 40 faculty offices located in the Law Library.

The new building meets the needs of the previously cramped library facility. More than 28,000 legal books that had been housed in other locations because of a lack of space have been brought into the new library, which has been transformed into an academic resource center with computer terminals and a total collection of 546,401 volumes.

Other highlights of the new building include:

— Ann Nicholson