This life size terra cotta sculpture of Dr. King greets students, staff and visitors to the school. It was commissioned by students in the 1980s.
Martin Luther King Jr. Hall , designed by Gardner Action Dailey, is UC Davis School of Law's main building, yet most people use "King Hall" to refer to both the program and all buildings associated with the school. The School of Law was just completing its second year of instruction when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. His death so impacted the school body and faculty that the building was officially dedicated after Dr. King on April 12, 1969, about six months following its completion and shortly before graduating its first class. Today, a life-size terra cotta sculpture of Dr. King mid-stride, wearing a clerical robe depicting carved illustrations of the civil rights movement, greets visitors in the foyer of the building. (During construction the statue has been relocated to the Law Library.)
Outside the hall, people typically notice the two Eggheads, See No Evil Hear No Evil, that don't see "eye to eye" before they ever notice the nondescript brick building in front of which they rest. Inside King Hall is a Moot Court where law students prepare for real world litigation and hold lectures (such as those put on by the King Hall Feminist Forum), a law library, classrooms and study space. Though initially constructed in the late sixties, King Hall provides wireless internet access as well as a computer lab with desktop systems.
If you are an Undergrad wandering arround King Hall without an appointment, someone may escort you outside or ask you to leave. This happened to me once in the Fall when I was taking a look at King Hall -BryceH. (This is probably in reaction to a series of thefts.)
A Banner honoring the 40th anniversary
Improvement and Expansion Project
The sign indicates a 2007 timeline
The eggheads that sat on the lawn just east of the building were moved in early 2008 in order to make way for the expansion of King Hall.
- For more on the improvements, see King Hall Renovation & Expansion.
- See also King Hall Legal Foundation
Named Rooms
There are several named rooms throughout the building:
- The Mabie Law Library
- The Paul and Lydia Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom and the The Paul and Lydia Kalmanovitz Memorial Seminar Room
- U.S. District Court Judge Philip C. Wilkins & Sue Wilkins Moot Courtroom
- The Hugh and Hazel Darling Lounge
- Judy Campos McKeehan '74 Memorial Student Lounge
- Mark Perry '80 and Melanie Peña Career Services Office
- Nancy Coan Torres '86 and Michael Torres Perfect Tender Co-op Room
- Stallard Family Conference Room
- Rex R. Perchbacher Dean's Office
