BU Law Community Gathers to Celebrate Sumner M. Redstone Building Project
Over 250 BU Law alumni, faculty, staff and students gathered on Friday, October 25 outside of the law tower for a celebration of the Sumner M. Redstone Building. The festive event, which was held on Alpert Mall, kicked off Alumni Reunion Weekend.
“We have been waiting a long time for this day, and it is finally here thanks to the generous gift from Mr. Redstone,” Dean Maureen A. O’Rourke told the crowd. “Today has also been made possible by the generosity of our law school’s alumni and friends – many of whom are here today – and the support of the BU administration, particularly that of our President, Robert Brown.”
Her welcoming remarks were followed by the presentation of a video, in which alumni, faculty and students, as well as the dean and the building’s architect, shared their thoughts on the meaning of the Redstone Building to the BU Law community.
Richard C. Godfrey (’79), chair of the School of Law’s Building on Excellence campaign, described the Redstone Building project as “transformational” for both the law school and the university, noting that BU’s leadership had “made a statement” by supporting this important project.
Former BU Law Dean William Schwartz (’55), who serves as an independent director of Viacom, read a message from Viacom and CBS Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone (Hon. ’94), who was unable to attend the celebration.
In his message, Redstone praised BU and wrote: “It is a thrill to continue my long association with one of the world’s finest educational institutions. From the earliest days when I taught entertainment law, I saw first-hand the vigorous academic achievement and legal scholarship that thrives on this campus.”
BU Law student Meghan Kelly (’15) then spoke about the impact of the Redstone Building on the student community. “When I think about how close we are now, how strong our community is, I can’t help but marvel at the strength that we will have when we move into the new Sumner M. Redstone Building,” she said. “With the new horizontal design, we will have so much more space to gather together as a community. Our community will flourish with the new study spaces and gathering areas, giving us even more room to interact and engage with one another.”
The formal remarks concluded with President Brown praising the law school as “one of our university’s top professional schools” and thanking alumni and friends for their support of this project. “This building is only a reality because of your generosity,” he said.
Guests were then invited to join Dean O’Rourke for a celebratory toast to the Redstone Building.
This story originally appeared on the BU Law Alumni site on 10/25/13.