We began our board meeting at 9:00 a.m. and we had a lot of business to cover. The meeting was very efficient and we had time for a more thorough discussion of a number of issues. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before but the LSAC has a number of committees that carry out the work of the body in between the Board meetings. Let me share those committees with you – Jannell Lundy Roberts is Chair of what used to be called the Minority Affairs Committee, but has just been changed (as of this board meeting) to the Diversity Committee; Susan Krinsky chairs the Services and Programs Committee; Dean Chuck Goldner chairs the Finance and Legal Affairs Committee; Bill Wang is chair of the Investment Policy Oversight Group (IPOG), and Daniel Ortiz is chair of the Test Development and Research Committee and is also the nominee for the incoming Chair of the Board. His term will start 2010. In addition, sometimes the Chair will designate work groups to look at particular issues. I chaired the Membership Issues Work Group and Dan Ortiz chaired the Global Issues Work Group. That is just a little bit about the structure of the LSAC.
After the Board meeting at abo
ut 3:00p.m., we all met Peter Pashley who is the Principal Research Scientist and Director of Testing and Research for LSAC; Athornia Steele who is a Professor of Law at Capital University Law School; Peter’s daughter Charlotte; myself; and Frank Garcia who is a Professor of Boston College of Law. We all hitched a ride from the hotel shuttle into Jackson, Wyoming.
Peter picked up a rental car in town and then we explored Jackson a little bit. We stopped at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. It’s a really interesting place. Apparently the type of pine, from which a lot of the building was constructed, is very rare. It was under attack, by I guess a beetle, and so there’s not very much of it left. It was originally called the Cowboy Bar, but the reason it’s now called the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is that it cost a million dollars to build it with this particular type of pine. The bar was remodeled to include the knobbled pine which graces the bar to this day. Mr. Goe purchased the bar and spent one whole winter cleaning and scraping the pine before it was used for construction. Since the
knobbled pine was so well liked by the customers, Ben spent another 14 months transporting more of the wood, for chairs, pillars, walls and ceiling trim. At this time they also built a long fancy bar with silver dollars inlaid in the top.
After we stopped there, we walked around the square a little bit. We didn’t have much time, so we had to head back to the hotel for the reception and dinner. It turns out this is a very slow season in Jackson Hole. But the Four Seasons opened its hotel restaurant for us, The Peak, to have dinner and our reception, which would otherwise have been closed. It was a nice space. We all had a fun time. There are a lot of the folks on the Board with whom I’ve become friends. I don’t get to see them that much, so it was kind of nice to be able to visit with them. We meet three times a year. Since this was my last Board meeting, it was good to get to see everybody before r
olling off the Board. That evening we gathered in the lobby bar area and had a nightcap before I called it a night. The next day Peter had graciously invited Thorny and I to join he and Charlotte for a trip to Yellowstone National Park, so we needed to get our rest for the trip.
On other note, while we were having our nightcap, there was a young man named Micah who had applied to our law school and I encouraged him to follow up. What a coincidence to be in Jackson Hole and run into a young man who applied for admission to our law school. It is a small world.
Nancecy 