News Archive
IU McKinney to Celebrate 125 Years on September 17
07/02/2019
Cake! Champagne! CLE! Sounds like a law school party, doesn't it?
IU McKinney marked its 125th anniversary on Constitution Day, September 17, with a celebration for students, alumni, faculty, staff, and all of the law school's friends.
Our history starts in 1894 as a private, full-time day school. Other predecessor schools emerged and merged until 1936, when Benjamin Harrison Law School and Indiana Law School joined forces, with the school taking on the latter's name.
Fun fact: IU McKinney's evening division traces its history to 1898, with the Indianapolis College of Law, where a student could graduate in just two years. The school was located in what was then the Pythian Building at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Pennsylvania Street. That's a picture of it, at left, but don't go looking for the structure. It was torn down in 1967.
Indiana Law School became affiliated with Indiana University in 1944, and was then known as the Indianapolis Division of the IU School of Law. The school gained autonomy in 1968, becoming the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis. Leaving the Maennerchor building, the school moved into a new facility on the IUPUI campus at 735 West New York Street in 1970, and into the present-day Lawrence W. Inlow Hall at 530 West New York Street in 2001.
The law school received a multi-million dollar gift from Robert H. McKinney in December 2011. In honor of his generosity, the law school took his name and became the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
