Marquette Law Receives $51 Million Gift for New Facility

Marquette Law alum Ray Eckstein ('49) and his wife, Kathryn (Liberal Arts '49), have given the Law School $51 million toward construction of a new facility. The donation, the largest gift ever made by individuals to a Wisconsin college or university, and one of the largest ever to a US law school, puts things in motion for the Law School to break ground next spring.

From the press release:

We are honored and thrilled to be able to provide the Law School with the foundation for a new building, so that students in the future can have the opportunity to benefit from the education we did,” said Ray Eckstein. Eckstein said he hoped his gift would encourage others to step forward to make the new building a reality. The initial cost estimate for the project is $80 million.

Kay Eckstein said their granddaughter's recent experience as a graduate of the Law School reinforced their sense of gratitude for the values of a Marquette education. "We saw once again the caring, challenging environment that Marquette continues to offer its students," she said.

Emphasis added.

In the press release, Joseph D. Kearney, dean of the Law School, called attention to the law school's need for a new facility by noting that over the past 25 years, Marquette's Law School faculty has doubled in size, the student body has increased 50 percent, and the law library collection is two and one-half times larger.

I wonder how many law school deans are thinking that maybe, as the development officer says, it really is a good idea to treat students well. File under "Good things happen to good law schools." [JH]