Friday morning started out on the road, in Russellville, at the Hampton Inn. Thursday had been a late night. So I decided to drive part of the way to Little Rock for the Friday morning Bar swearing-in ceremony for all those who passed the February Bar. I love to attend the swearing-in to give big hugs and congratulations to our alums who become members of the Arkansas Bar. I left the Hampton Inn at 7:00 a.m. because the ceremony started at 9:00 a.m. and the front desk clerk said, “Well, just to be safe in the traffic, you probably should leave two hours early.”

When I arrived at the court, I ran into Britt Johnson and Greneda Johnson and gave them big hugs and met their families before the ceremony started. The ceremony is an informal session for the Supreme Court of Arkansas. The Chief Justice recognized the President of the Arkansas Bar Association who is Rick Ramsay, our alum. Parents and families are also allowed to attend, so the room was very full as you might imagine. Chief Justice Hannah introduced the two law school Deans. He said, “From UALR, Chuck Goldner, and from Fayetteville, Associate Dean Jim Miller,” and everybody yelled, “Dean Nance is here!” It was kind of funny, and then he said, “Dean Nance, I didn’t see you over there!” and I said, “Well, that’s only because I was being quiet for a change,” and everybody laughed about that. Senators David Pryor and Mark Pryor were there as well. The new lawyers were sworn in, and afterwards there was a reception. I tried to visit with as many as I could, to get their pictures, and to let them know how we are proud of and happy for them.

After that I caught up with Judge Wendell Griffen, our alum. We had breakfast before I headed back to Fayetteville. I visited with him about his campaign and how that was going. While we were having breakfast, I ran into Chip (our alum) and Cheryl Welch and they were very excited. They had just come from Babies “R” Us and are expecting their first grand baby (a little girl). Congratulations! It was great to see them. Before heading back, I had a conference call as a member of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services Development Committee. Then it was time to head back “up the hill.”

I arrived in Fayetteville just in time to catch the commissioning of the Army ROTC Lieutenant Second Lieutenants. As you know if you follow the blog, Lieutenant Colonel Clark Taylor is a very good friend and the law school has had the privilege of hosting the Army ROTC commissioning in our courtroom. This is the second year we’ve done so and we are very proud to be able to do it. It is our privilege and pleasure to recognize these young people.

After the ceremony, I had ambassadorial duties. I had been invited by Chancellor White to be the escort for Dr. Terrence Roberts. Dr. Roberts is one of the Little Rock Nine, the nine African-American students who braved threats and intimidation to desegregate Little Rock Central High School in 1957. He earned a BA in Sociology from California State University, a Masters of Social Work from UCLA in 1970, and a PhD in Psychology from Southern Illinois University in 1976. Since 1993, Dr. Roberts has been a professor at Antioch College in Los Angeles, California where he teaches graduate courses in psychology. In addition to serving as the CEO of Terrence J. Roberts and Associates Management Consulting Firm, he maintains a private psychology practice and is a desegregation consultant with the Little Rock School District.

This was a very magical moment for me to be able to visit with him, and to be his escort. I really do believe that, were it not for the courage of the nine and their brave actions in trying to bring about change, many of the changes in our society would be much less likely, including my position as Dean. Terrence was a hero then and he is a hero to me now. Growing up in Chicago I can remember my parents talking about what happened at Central High, so to be able to spend quality time with him was just an amazing, amazing experience.

At dinner, I sat with Chancellor and Mary Lib White, along with President Alan Sugg, the President of the UA System, John Tyson, and of course Dr. Roberts. We had a lively conversation at our table, everything from politics to religion to the state of education in Arkansas. I have to say that I had not previously had a conversation of much length with President Sugg. I am glad I was seated next to him because we had a very warm and long conversation. I found him to be a delightful, thoughtful and very kind man and it was good to visit with him. We shared our feelings about issues of race and politics and the future of our country. Dr. Sugg, I really, really enjoyed that conversation and I want you to know that.

The menu was a mixed green salad with grilled pear, blue cheese and cider vinegar dressing followed by the main course, which was a grilled beef tenderloin with caramelized onions and béarnaise sauce. All this was accompanied by smashed red potatoes and sautéed green beans with pancetta and shallots. Dessert was fresh berry crepes.

The general UA graduation committee hosted a dinner for all the Deans, members of central administration, and the speakers for the various graduation ceremonies. Each commencement Dean introduces their guest (the commencement speaker), the Provost gives a few remarks, and the Chancellor gives a few remarks. Because Dr. Roberts was the recipient of an honorary doctorate of Arts and Letters from the University of Arkansas, he was invited to give a few remarks. His theme was on making a difference in the world regardless of where you started from and that you can help to heal the world. His comments were very powerful and moving.

After dinner, I escorted him back to Carnall Hall and asked if he would like a night cap. We stopped in Lambeth Lounge where my favorite bartender, Mr. Ryan Polite (although I call him Mr. Polite) is the host. He is a really great guy and makes everyone feel welcome. He came over and I told him who Dr. Roberts was. He was very courteous and made Dr. Roberts feel right at home and made him my favorite drink, a Mojito. I didn’t indulge as I had to drive back to my house, but we visited for a little while. Being able to spend time with Dr. Terrence Roberts is a time that I will never forget. He was so encouraging and helpful to me in thinking through some challenges of leadership. Besides who he is and his place in history, he is a wonderful person. I feel very, very blessed to have been able to spend quality time with him.

Wednesday I left early for Little Rock to have lunch with Bill Allen. He is a graduate of Washington University and a native of St. Louis who has since relocated to Little Rock after years in Illinois. Bill has been appointed to the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission. Owner of the Allen Law Firm PC based in Little Rock, he has held numerous leadership positions in both the Arkansas Bar Association and the American Bar Association, including finance chair of the ABA Board of Governors and special assistant to the ABA president. He previously served as an assistant United States attorney in Chicago and was a member of the Clinton-Gore transition team for the Commercial Litigation Division of the United States Department of Justice. He was also named to the 2007 Mid-South Super Lawyers for business litigation. This is the second consecutive year that Bill has received this honor.

Professors Kelley and Judges and I met at his office and the three of us walked over to the Capital Hotel for a lovely lunch. For the foodies out there, Bill and I had a cobb salad, Professor Judges had a garden salad and Professor Kelley had a chicken Caesar salad. We visited with Bill about the Rule of Law initiative, ABA President Neukom’s interest in having law schools teach Rule of Law courses, and the world justice project. We also talked with Attorney Allen about some of the interesting initiatives we have going on at the law school and asked how we might play a role in the broader ABA programs. In other words, we are looking for symbiosis between what we were developing and the ABA programs as well as seeking general guidance on what direction we might take our program.

Our lunch was a long one during which Professors Kelley and Judges talked about their work in the Ukraine and the connections we’ve made. Professor Kelley invited Bill to the Ukraine to meet some of the people with whom we’ve worked and developed initiatives so that Bill could experience it for himself. We described the University’s focus on service learning and the Belize project. Professor Kelley mentioned the course he is developing for next Spring on the Rule of Law. The New Hampshire Bar is in the process of collecting rule of law resources online. The idea is to create a blog or a “web event” and to have a conversation around these issues online. They propose, for example, making available a celebrity or commentator at a specified time to answer questions live (not a webinar or video, but an interactive blog) available on Law Day with live interaction. Professor Kelley had looked at the site and made some suggestions for supplementing it. Former ABA Chair Gray is chairing the Rule of Law initiative and Bill will give him Professor Kelley’s contact information. We were able to cover a number of issues pretty thoroughly over our meal. Afterwards Bill wanted to specifically discuss issues of diversity, the diversity of our law school, and the diversity initiatives of the ABA. He was very gracious with his time and the three of us appreciate him meeting with us and hosting us at lunch. We look forward to working with him more in the future.

After meeting with Attorney Allen, Professors Judges and Kelley headed back to Fayetteville, but I checked into the Holiday Inn Presidential because that night was the Pulaski County Bar Association annual dinner. Dean Richard Atkinson and Dean Chuck Goldner were both to be awarded the Pulaski County Bar Association Lawyer Citizen Award for all they’ve done to improve the two law schools and legal education in the State of Arkansas. Michael Hollomon, Richard’s life partner, was going to be there and I thought it was important to support both Chuck and Michael.

The dinner was held at the Governor’s Mansion and I had not been there since Jim Guy Tucker was Governor. Much renovation had been done since then, including a beautiful addition where the dinner was held.On the way from the car to the Governor’s Mansion, I ran into one of our alums Martin Kasten and his wife, Kathryn. As you might imagine a number of our alums were there as well.

The program began with a welcome by Hugh Finkelstein, President of the Pulaski County Bar Association and was followed by the invocation by Justice Annabelle Clinton Imber. It really started to storm during dinner, but inside, the fellowship and comradery was very warm. I’m glad that I was able to be there to see Richard and Chuck be recognized and to spend time with Michael. After the dinner, I returned to the Holiday Inn Presidential to get a good night’s sleep before returning to Fayetteville on Thursday, which was a full day.

Happy Birthday to Steve Sheppard! At 10:00 a.m., I met with Professor Snow who makes a wonderful contribution to the law school. It was good to be able to tell him so. At 10:30 a.m., I met with Monika Szakasits from the library. Stay tuned because we are putting together a way for you to access some of our historical materials, to get those all cataloged and available to you for research. You heard about it here first.

Afterwards I was able to break away for a lunch with Prof. Sheppard. That was fun. We went to a Thep Thai restaurant and caught up with what’s going on in each other’s lives. At 2:00 p.m., I met with Professor Judges and then took a quick walk around the building before my weekly meeting with Teri Stafford concerning development issues.

That was followed by a 4:30 p.m. meeting with the Executive Committee. I’m really grateful to them. I guess I’ll just take time out now to say, since we had a meeting and I’m blogging about it, that I very much appreciate their support over these two years. The Executive Committee has consisted of Professors Bailey, Judges, Schneider, Mullane and Foster. Professors Bailey and Foster are no longer serving on the Executive Committee and this was the first meeting that included Professor Matthews. They have been invaluable to me. Being the Dean is a big job and no one could do it alone. Certainly having the elected members of the Executive Committee always ready and standing by to provide guidance and support is a wonderful blessing to me. I thank them all for their great service.

Monday began with Pilates with Claudia, as usual. At 10:00 a.m., there was a very important meeting with Chancellor-Elect Gearhart, the UA Executive Committee, Deans, members of the campus faculty and the faculty senate about the budget and what the upcoming budget looked like for the year at the University of Arkansas. At noon, I went to the Washington County Bar Association luncheon with Malcolm. The speakers were very interesting. They were the two candidates for the Arkansas Court of Appeals – Courtney Henry and Ron Williams. Both are alums of the University of Arkansas School of Law and we wish them well in the election race. It was good to be there to visit with the members of the Washington County Bar and to be able to hear the candidates’ presentations to the group. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to attend that luncheon.

After lunch I met with Chris Kelley and that was a very good meeting. There were a number of initiatives Chris will be working on for the law school, so thanks Chris for all you do, particularly for the ties you are building for the law school in the Ukraine. At 3:00 p.m. I met with Colleen Williams, one of our library faculty, and we had a good meeting as well. That meeting was immediately followed by a meeting with Professor Carl Circo, our most recently tenured faculty member. I’m certainly pleased to have Carl join the ranks of the tenured faculty in the law school and I had a good meeting with him as well.

At 7:00 p.m. I had dinner with Michelle McCall and Kedron Benham and we ate at our favorite place again, Taste of Thai. And you know what, foodies? I don’t remember what we had! I think I had Pad See Eu. I know we began with the chewy rolls and I can never remember if those are called spring or summer rolls. They gave me two wonderful books – “Miss Hickory” by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey and “A Place for You” by Paul Tournier. It’s wonderful to have their friendship, support and encouragement. What a nice way to end a very long day: with good friends and a quiet meal.

We were able to conclude all the business for our Board meeting on Friday afternoon, so Saturday was a free day. Peter Pashley and his daughter Charlotte invited Thorny Steele and me to go with them to Yellowstone National Park. We left bright and early at 8:30 a.m. in the morning, with Dean Kent Syverud and his wife Professor Ruth Chi-fen Chen following us in the car behind. The route to Yellowstone was interesting. Because some of the entrances to Yellowstone were not yet open for the season, we had to take a circuitous route.

We left from Wyoming, crossed the Tetons to Idaho, crossed briefly into Montana and then came back around into Wyoming in order to get to the West entrance of the park. On our way to Yellowstone we passed through Driggs, Idaho and Charlotte was able to find out more about it on her iPhone. Our initial impression passing through was that it was an interesting place and it turned out that it was more interesting than we knew. We learned a lot about it. It’s one of the top 100 artist communities in the United States. There’s a film school there and regular street theater. If you go to the internet and look up Driggs, Idaho the Chamber of Commerce website will share some of that. We didn’t stop in Driggs, but at least we could say that we stopped in Idaho.

We stopped in Ashton, Idaho for breakfast. The name of the restaurant was Criswell’s Trails Inn Restaurant and we ordered breakfast there. Our hotel shuttle driver from the day before told us that it was the absolute best place to have breakfast and boy, was he right. For you foodies out there if you ever get to Ashton, Idaho you must stop at Criswell’s and have breakfast. Apparently it’s pretty famous. There’s a huge map that asks you to identify where you are from, so we all put pins in the map. The breakfast was huge. Kent Syverud had a trout and egg breakfast with hashbrowns, and Thorny had a pancake, eggs and sausage breakfast and the pancake was the size of the plate. I had what was called the skillet scramble, which was egg, cheese and ham, and came with toast and a side of hashbrowns. It was thoroughly filling and delicious. After breakfast we headed out and got back on the road and headed to Yellowstone National Park.

When we entered the park we were greeted by a number of bison. In fact, I have a picture of one who walked right up to the car. Many of them were on the road and people had to stop and wait until they cleared the roadway. The first thing we did when we arrived at Yellowstone was get a map and head for the geyser, Old Faithful. We arrived a little before it was to erupt. The rangers give you a sense of when it will erupt, with about a half an hour between eruptions. So for example, the time will be posted and will indicate 10 minutes before or after a certain time. Since we knew we had a bit of a wait, we went into the science station to see the exhibits and souvenirs. We watched the film that is shown half an hour before the geyser is scheduled to erupt, which talked about all the geological features in the park.

I never realized how many interesting things were there in addition to the abundant wildlife. There are a number of geological features. These include hot springs with a number of colors in the run off channels. The colors occur because of the suspended minerals and the microscopic organisms that flock to the warm water. There were geysers, which periodically erupt (Old Faithful does) because of a large volume of hot water stored beneath the surface. There were also mud pots with acidic hot springs, which were like big pits of mud. The mud would kind of bubble because of the gas that was beneath the earth’s surface causing it try to break out. The gases escape through the wet clay mud and cause it to bubble and that’s called a mud pot. Then there was something called a fumarole. A fumarole is like a dry geyser. It’s a crack in the ground from which gas escapes and makes a whistling noise. You can find out more about these at the website for Yellowstone. It was pretty fascinating. We took the time during our visit to go and visit each of these features.

After we saw the geological features in that section of the park, we drove east so we could see the large canyon and it was amazing. I had never seen it before. I do have to say though that it was very difficult for me to walk right up to the rail and look down. I tended to take my pictures standing back a little bit. After that we drove so we could see the upper falls of the Yellowstone River and it was really beautiful. Once we had finished seeing all those sites it was pretty late in the day, so we got some gas and a few snacks and headed back to our hotel in Jackson Hole.

By the time we got back, we had worked up and appetite for dinner, so we headed to The Cadillac Grille in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The food was very good. It was Saturday night and the restaurant also has a big bar area. That was pretty rowdy and loud, so we sat in the dining area, which was a little bit smaller and quieter. The service was excellent and the food was great. For the foodies out there, I had an interesting starter- trout salad. It had smoked trout on top of various mixed greens, pears, and a champagne vinaigrette. It was very good… very unusual, but very good. Peter Pashley started with what was called won ton cigars. They were won tons rolled and then stuffed with cheese and shrimp. They looked yummy. His daughter started with a soup, a potato with chorizo and blue cheese soup. It looked pretty good. Thorny didn’t have an appetizer because he had the wild game grill, which was huge, so he didn’t want an appetizer. My entree was grilled mahi mahi with wild rice and grilled veggies. It was really well-prepared and seasoned. Peter had the bison steak and Charlotte had oysters. For dessert I had a tiramisu, Charlotte had raspberry sorbet, and Thorny had an interesting maple crème brulee. It was really a good meal. We got a chance to visit and relax a little bit after our day’s exploits. Then we headed back to the hotel and called it an evening before too long because we were all pretty pooped.

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 about 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 rolling 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.

Thursday morning was a little bit of a blur because Teri Stafford and I returned late from Texarkana the night before. We had a faculty meeting at noon, the last faculty meeting of the year, and we were able to cover a number of agenda items in a very efficient way. Thanks to all my colleagues for a wonderful academic year. I could not do this job without your help and support. I am grateful for all the guidance and encouragement you have given me over this academic year.

After the faculty meeting, I left for XNA to fly out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming which was the site of my last LSAC Board Meeting. And as you know if you follow the blog, I have been involved with LSAC since I was a baby professor in 1994. I was brand new and non-tenured, so it was a bittersweet moment to actually think about the last Board meeting. My flight was a little bit inconvenient, but I wanted to stay in Fayetteville long enough to attend the last faculty meeting. Because of this, I had to fly from XNA to Dallas, Dallas to Denver, and Denver to Jackson Hole. The flight from Denver to Jackson Hole was on a little propeller plane. I arrived about 10:30 p.m. at night and there were no taxis waiting. In fact, the security guard had to call a taxi for me.

The taxi company that came to fetch me was called Red Neck Taxi (which, as you might imagine, didn’t give me much comfort. But the night security office explained that it’s just the name of the company and he wasn’t sure why it was called that). My driver was a very interesting character. It turns out he had a lot of knowledge about Jackson Hole. He had moved there from Denver and he liked it very much. He shared some of the history of Jackson Hole. One of the most interesting things he told me about was how, because we were right in the middle of migrating season, lots of wildlife was either on the road or right up next to the road. In fact, I saw quite a bit of wildlife on the drive to the hotel. To get to the hotel in Jackson Hole you have to drive through town and go around. Then you had to go back behind the airport to get to the Four Seasons, which is where the Board meeting was being held. After arriving at the hotel, it was time to hit the sack because our Board meeting would start at 9:00 in the morning.

The Four Seasons was a very beautiful hotel, with a major art collection. Among the artists represented are Reginald Marsh, Alberto Giacometti, and Romare Bearden. Born in Paris and growing up in New Jersey, Reginald Marsh attended Yale and then Art Students League of New York, supporting himself as an illustrator for the New York Daily News, Harper’s Bazaar and many other periodicals. He produced more than 4,000 illustrations for the Daily News alone. Marsh used contemporary subject matter in his work to depict urban life in all its tawdry aspects. His fascination with the human crowd was entirely individual for an artist of Marsh’s time. Marsh is best remembered for his Depression-era work, remains the most significant artistic figure of the genre in the United States, and has been the subject of major retrospectives.

Alberto Giacometti was born in Switzerland, and his father was a Post-Impressionist painter. Giacometti studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and sculpture and drawing at the Ecole des Arts et Métiers in Geneva. He traveled to Italy where he was impressed by works of Alexander Achipenko and Paul Cézanne and was also deeply affected by African and Egyptian art and by the masterpieces of Giotto and Tintoretto. Settling in Paris, he occasionally attended Antoine Bourdelle’s sculpture classes and found himself in the Surrealist circle. He became known for his work in the area of lithography. In 1965, Giacometti’s exhibitions were organized by the Tate Gallery in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek in Denmark, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. That same year, he was awarded the Grand Prix National des Arts by the French government.

Romare Bearden was born in North Carolina. Soon after, his family moved to New York City’s Harlem where their apartment was just across the street from the stage door of the Lafayette. This location would forever influence his work as an artist who looked to music – jazz and the blues – for many of his subjects. Paintings also emerged from his memory and experience of the South – of gospels and spirituals sung in church, and of blue notes bending through warm nights. Painting also emerged from his life in New York – the sophistication of bands playing Harlem clubs, and the excitement of crowded dance floors. He has also used collage to express the rhythms of black music. Bearden was profoundly influenced by the civil rights movement and has done much to promote opportunities for black artists.

One very special note: my assistant Terri Yeakley became engaged to Jason Huckleberry on Thursday morning. It’s very, very exciting. We wish them both the very, very best! Needless to say, the law school community is very hapy for them, really embraces them, and is excited about their engagement.

In addition, I’d like to say farewell to Stan Adelman. Stan has been an adjunct at the law school for a number of years and he leaves us to go to Albany Law School in New York where he will teach Torts and Sentencing/Correctional Law in the Fall, and Criminal Law and Bail to Jail in the Spring. Farewell, Stan. Thanks for being a great colleague over the years. We will miss you.

Teri Stafford and I started that morning with a really good breakfast provided by the Union Square Guest Quarters. It was a nice continental breakfast that included ham, fresh fruit, yogurt, sausage, biscuits, coffee, tea, and cereal. That morning our first visit was with Norwood Phillips. His office wasn’t far from the hotel, so we scooted right over after breakfast. He, too, is excited about the El Dorado Promise and hopes it will attract more young families. He expressed a strong desire for more young attorneys to relocate to El Dorado and mentioned several people retiring, which has created a need for new associates. So you heard it here on the blog, recent grads. El Dorado is the “Promise Land.” Seriously, for those still job hunting who would enjoy smaller town living, I think it’s worth inquiring about, given the opportunities available.

We got in the car and headed to Texarkana where our first stop was to meet with Don Capshaw. Before we left Texarkana I felt very concerned and insistent that we stop in and see Judge Harry Barnes, one of our alums who recently had open heart surgery. I just love Judge Barnes and I could not leave town without seeing him. We had to modify our schedule and it caused a little bit of stress for Teri who had so efficiently put together our schedule.

Nevertheless, we went to Judge Barnes’ office and we were able to visit with him and two of his law clerks who are also our alums, Susan Hickey and John Crisp. It was a delightful visit. Judge Barnes is such a hoot, and so very interesting and engaging. It was good to see him doing well. Having done that, we finally left for Texarkana.

Because we left for Texarkana a little bit behind schedule, we had to reschedule our meeting with Don Capshaw so that he was our last visit of that day. We arrived in Texarkana, had lunch, regrouped, and after lunch headed out to see Damon Young. It was great to see Damon again. He’s so gracious, funny and warm. He gave me very good ideas about things we might do to reach out to alums. We appreciate his time and his continued support and hope that he’ll be able to join us for the dedication. (Just a note to all the alums who made time to see us, we very much appreciate your time. We know how busy you are and we know that time is money and it means a lot to us that you would visit with us and let us update you on all the things going on at the law school.)

After visiting with Damon we went over to see Don Capshaw. He and I visited last year about his daughter’s wedding, so we caught up on the details of that, which was really fun to hear about. He is still very active in sports, serving as a referee, so it’s hard for him to visit in the fall due to his schedule. But, we’re very much looking forward to hosting him here at the law school next spring and to sharing our clinical program with him in which he has a great deal of interest.

After our visit with him, we headed back to Fayetteville. It was a long drive. We had a late start so we stopped in Mena, Arkansas at a little Mexican restaurant called Papa Poblanos and had dinner. On the way to Mena we tried to contact our former colleague Jake Looney who had served as Dean of the law school and is now a judge there, but we weren’t able to catch up with him. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to see you , Jake. We are scheduled to go back to Texarkana, and our alum Nick Patton (a great guy and good friend) has graciously volunteered to host a party for us. Maybe as we drive down through Mena and we can see you on our way there the next time we pass that way.

Teri Stafford and I left for the Union County Bar Association meeting from the Holiday Inn Presidential in Little Rock at 8:30 a.m. once I printed out my speech in the hotel business center and headed down on a beautiful sunny day to El Dorado. The drive was fantastic.
We arrived in plenty of time at the El Dorado Country Club. When we got there Raymond Higgins, one of our 50+ year alums, was waiting for us. He looked very dapper in his bow tie. I had a chance to sit quietly and visit with him before the bar meeting started. The meeting started at noon and we all had an interesting lunch. For the foodies out there, it was a soup and salad bar. The soup was a broccoli cheese soup, but the salad bar had both regular salad and taco salad with either chicken or beef. The dessert was peach cobbler. I just had soup because I had to speak.

By the way, this was the largest attendance at the meeting in quite a while, and the wait staff had to bring in another table. We were very pleased to be able to fellowship with so many members of the Union County Bar, including many of our alums – Jack William Barker, O. Worth Camp Jr., Walter K. Compton, John Crisp, Robert L. Depper Jr., Ronald L. Griggs, Judge David F. Guthrie, Albert R. Hanna, Susan O. Hickey, Raymond B. Higgins, Amanda Hurst, Andrew King, Henry Kinslow, Dr. Gary D. McDonald, James E. McMenis, Judge Bobby E. Shepherd, Matthew Joseph Shepherd, and Floyd Matt Thomas. At 12:20 p.m. Phil Pesek called the meeting to order and I gave a speech on the Rule of Law and our role in it as lawyers. Thanks very much to Prof. Steve Sheppard who helped in preparing these remarks. I couldn’t have done it without him. He provided me with a lot of background material. Thanks also to my research assistant, Stacia Alvarez. It’s very much due to their assistance and preparation that I was able to have a successful presentation. As it turned out, the members of the Bar on May 1 (which is Law Day) were going to talk to the high school about the Rule of Law and we were able to make copies of my remarks for them to take with them. In my speech, I focused on the requirements for the Rule of Law and talked about the role lawyers play in each. It was really good to visit with the Bar.

After that Teri and I made some visits around El Dorado. We started with Matthew Shepherd and Matt Thomas. Both are our alums and both are 2001 graduates. We talked to them about the El Dorado Promise Scholarships that were provided by Murphy Oil Company. The scholarships provide anyone who graduates from high school in the school district (it’s phased in based on the number of years you have attended high school there) with the financial support to attend college. Henderson College has agreed, if a student takes one of those scholarships, to match that or at least to provide the remainder of the balance that would be due to attend there. It is a wonderful opportunity. A high school graduate can attend any school in the country and there is no requirement to return to El Dorado. There has been a 10% increase in enrollment in the school district because people are moving there to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity provided by the El Dorado Promise.

Also, for students who are job searching, please know that Matt’s firm Compton, Prewett, Thomas & Hickey, L.L.P. is looking to hire. They would like for lawyers to come back to El Dorado to practice. The firm is particularly in need of estate planning and also just general practice lawyers, for those who would be interested in practicing in the area. So, Matt and Matt have promised to come up to spend a day in the library for the “A Day with a Lawyer” program to talk to students about the opportunities that are available. According to Matt, if you move to El Dorado, because there are so many fewer lawyers than for example in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas, you are immediately able to hit the ground running in your practice with jury trials and extensive client contact. It’s a really good opportunity and they are looking for lawyers.

After that, we went to visit with Judge Bobby Shepherd, our graduation speaker, in his new beautiful offices. We visited with his two law clerks who are also alums of the law school, Andrew King and Amanda Hurst. Judge Shepherd is looking to hire two new law clerks. He would like to meet students from the UofA, and encourages you to apply for clerkships in his office. We were very excited to hear about that and we have passed that on to Susan Schell and have posted info on my Facebook page. We had a lovely visit with Judge Shepherd during which I learned a lot about the functioning of the Eighth Circuit and also about the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference.

Later, we went and checked into our hotel which was the Union Square Guest Quarters, a very lovely, small hotel with huge, huge rooms. I would highly recommend anyone who visits El Dorado to stay here. The hostess was very warm and accommodating and the rooms were fantastic. After checking in, Teri and I went for a walk around the Square. At 6:00 p.m., Raymond and Patsy Higgins picked us up near our hotel and took us to Mel’s Seafood Restaurant where we had a lovely dinner. We are grateful to them for their gracious hospitality. It was a joy to be with them. They are both wonderful and we very much enjoyed their company and we also thanked them for our meals. For the “foodies” out there, I had shrimp and catfish with a baked potato and salad. Teri Stafford had grilled shrimp and fried shrimp with steamed vegetables and salad. She chose a lot healthier selection. Raymond had a lunch size shrimp plate and Patsy had the same meal as I, only she had onion rings. It was simply a lovely meal.

Afterwards they took us on a drive around El Dorado so we could see the new high school. They showed us where our alums lived in the different neighborhoods and also showed us their house and then brought us back to the hotel. They have extended an invitation for us to come down on a weekend so that we could visit the museum which is between Smackover and El Dorado. They also invited us to go to church with them and have lunch with them after church at a soul food restaurant called Sister, Sister, Sister Restaurant. We are looking forward to the opportunity to be able to do that. Our alums and members of the Union County Bar were so welcoming and it was a terrific trip. Thanks very much to everyone for their gracious hospitality. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with you and we look forward to seeing you all at the dedication.

Monday started off as usual with Pilates with Claudia. We were supposed to have a faculty meeting, but that was canceled because we didn’t really have enough business to justify holding a meeting. It’s a busy time of year, and I’m sure everyone was able to take advantage of that.

That afternoon Teri Stafford and I departed for our first road trip, just the two of us together. Our first stop was in Little Rock and we visited with Judge Morris Arnold. We had a wonderful visit with Judge Arnold. He is a brilliant man who is also warm, funny and kind. It’s always a pleasure to spend time with him. We took a number of his books for him to sign as gifts for our distinguished visitors. He gave us a tour of his office and he shared with us some of his family history and the photographs in his office. It was a wonderful, wonderful visit. While we were there, a hawk paid us a visit on his outside patio and we walked outside together to look at the Richard Sheppard Arnold United States Courthouse which is catty-corner from his office. I promised Judge Arnold that I will return to take a tour of the courthouse with him. During our conversation he was interested in what was going on at the law school, in legal education, and the ABA Section on Legal Education. Again, it was a terrific visit and we very much appreciate him making time to see us.

That evening we had dinner at the River City Grille and I ran into one of my sorority sisters and her mom. After dinner we checked into our hotel without delay because we had to get up for an early morning drive down to Texarkana, Arkansas, where I would be speaking to the Union County Bar Association on “The Rule of Law” and I needed to take some time to finish up those remarks.