LARAMIE — A $38.3 million expansion and renovation of the University of Wyoming’s College of Law Building has been completed, including a new center for student-led legal clinics named for one of the college’s most famous and accomplished alumni.

The nearly 20,000-square-foot addition is home to the Alan K. Simpson Center for Clinical and Experiential Learning, which provides a centralized location for the College of Law’s legal clinics that provide services to Wyoming residents and practical experiences for UW law students. Those include the Civil Legal Services Clinic, the Defender Aid Clinic, the Family and Child Legal Advocacy Clinic, the International Human Rights Clinic, the Prosecution Assistance Program and the Energy, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic.

A grand opening ceremony Aug. 22 was attended by hundreds of current and former attorneys, politicians and university officials to celebrate the project’s completion and honor former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, a 1958 UW College of Law graduate who served in the Wyoming Legislature (1964-78) before being elected to three terms in the U.S. Senate (1979-97). His distinguished career in politics and public service was capped with the receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022.

Among those in attendance were former Govs. Mike Sullivan, Dave Freudenthal and Matt Mead, who also are UW College of Law alumni, along with former and current Wyoming Supreme Court justices, federal judges and state District Court and Circuit Court judges. Sullivan, a two-term Democrat, introduced Simpson, a Republican, during the ceremony.

“I walked into the building, and I was taken aback …,” Sullivan said. “Here we are at the Alan K. Simpson Clinical and Experiential Learning Center, at a place where Alan Simpson himself was taught about justice and the rule of law and to care for your fellow man. Since then, who has had more clinical or experiential learning in their lives than Alan? He has given it, and he’s taken it.”

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), whose late wife, Bobbi, also graduated from UW’s law school, spoke in tribute to Simpson as well.

“I tend to think students come here with a skull full of Wyoming values and leave thinking like Al Simpson — thinking, ‘What can I do to make this place better and leave a better world behind?’” Barrasso said. “So, Al, thank you so much for your friendship, your leadership and your advocacy for this great university, for the law school and for this great state of Wyoming.”

Simpson, who has often joked about his academic challenges as a UW student, used his trademark humor in expressing appreciation for the building being named in his honor.

“This is the only institution on this campus named after a ‘C’ student,” Simpson said to laughter, before describing the building name as one of his greatest honors.

The project was a renovation and expansion of the College of Law Building that opened in 1977, making improvements to bring the college into compliance with American Bar Association standards — and adding exterior features to connect with the university’s historic Collegiate Gothic sandstone style of other buildings. Featured in the new facility are exhibits about Simpson’s life and career, the history of the law school, which opened in 1920, and the achievements of its graduates.

UW law graduates include five who served as governors of Wyoming: J.J. “Joe” Hickey, Ed Herschler, Sullivan, Freudenthal and Mead. Seven graduates have served in the U.S. Congress: Hickey (senator), Simpson (senator), Cynthia Lummis (senator and representative), Keith Thomson (representative), Teno Roncalio (representative), Harriet Hageman (representative) and Ken Buck (representative, Colorado).

Former Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kite, also a UW law alumna, chairs the school’s advisory board and served as emcee of the ceremony.

“The energy is unmistakable on this day. It’s clear that this grand opening is as much of a celebration as it is a milestone in our history,” Kite said. “This law school is 104 years old, which is pretty amazing. Thousands of students have been educated in this school, and here we were taught to grow, to engage, to lead and to serve.”

Also speaking was new UW College of Law Dean Julie Hill.

“Not many law school deans get this kind of welcome in their second official month of the job — a $38.3 million new facility with 20,000 square feet of new construction and 18,500 square feet of renovated space,” she said. “I want to make sure that I recognize the hard work done by others to make this beautiful building possible. A building is not much good all by itself. It makes its impact through the good work that goes on inside, and, thankfully, my predecessors and their faculty set about building a strong clinical education program long before we had such a lovely building to house those clinics.”