Mitchell Hamline School of Law will celebrate its 125th anniversary this year with a number of events in 2025 highlighting alumni and opportunities for students and remembering the school’s history.
The school was founded as St. Paul College of Law in 1900.
The events began Wednesday evening with a panel discussion on artificial intelligence and technology and the future of legal education. Other events will include a virtual law school fair, an alumni awards reception, the annual Women in Law Tea and an October reunion weekend and gala.
It also will be the 25th Women in Law Tea, which was started by former Minnesota Supreme Court justice and class of 1955 alum Esther Tomljanovich, who will host the May event.
The October reunion and gala will mark the same month when the St. Paul school took the name Hamline University School of Law 50 years ago.
The school also will be marking 10 years since the merging of William Mitchell College of Law and Hamline University School of Law in 2015 and the launch of its blended-learning juris doctor program, a mix of online and in-person learning.
“Since the very beginning, we’ve been a school that provides the opportunity for folks to attend law school who might not otherwise have an opportunity,” said Camille Davidson, Mitchell Hamline School of Law president and dean.
The St. Paul College of Law began as a night school with 20 students and $60 tuition, at a time when law school was typically for the elite, according to school officials. In 2001, Hamline Law began Minnesota’s first and only weekend law degree enrollment option, the second one in the country.
Davidson, who joined Mitchell Hamline in 2024 after serving as dean of Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School, said she came to Mitchell Hamline due to the reputation of the school’s Health Law Institute and what the it stands for.
“The opportunities that one gets while they are still in school only makes them better practitioners when they have graduated. And so we are very much the school that will push the envelope with, what is it that the profession needs and how can we deliver that to our students?” Davidson said.
The events are a way to bring alumni together, highlight what the school is doing and reintroduce it to the community, Davidson said.
“This is an institution that has been intimately woven into the tapestry of the Twin Cities and the region for more than a century. And although there have been different names, we’ve stayed true to the mission for 125 years. Practical wisdom, the lawyer’s lawyer, the lawyer’s law school,” Davidson said.
“And so we want to really remind folks that while the name may be different, the quality of the programming is still the same. The connections that one makes with their former classmates are still there,” she said.
In addition to the events, the school also will commemorate its anniversary with displays, campus improvements, and publications, which includes an illustrated history of the school, according to the release.
While the celebrations for the school’s history kick off, classes start again next Tuesday for the school’s 2024 fall enrollees, whose ages range over 40 years across a student body of more than 1,100 students.
“So we are excited about all of the celebrations. As we look to the future, we look at the past and remember the past, and celebrate the present and look forward to what awaits us in the future,” Davidson said.
To learn more about the anniversary events, visit mitchellhamline.edu/125-years/.
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