Monnet Hall

Monnet Hall. . This building, once referred to as the “Law Barn”, is named for Dean Julien Charles Monnet, the first dean of the University of Oklahoma School of Law. Monnet was born October 4, 1868 in Keosauqua, Iowa. He earned his law degree from the University of Iowa in June of 1893. In September of 1905, he enrolled in the Harvard School of Law, graduating in 1908 with an advanced degree. , In the spring of 1909 the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents approved the establishment of a law school at the university and began a search for the first dean of the school. On September 1, 1909, Monnet moved to Norman to begin a new life, in a new state, as the first dean of a new school. The law school opened on schedule with an enrollment of 47 students. The faculty consisted of the dean and two assistant professors. Due in no small point to Monnet's leadership, the OU School of Law quickly became the outstanding law school in the state and one of the finest public law schools in the nation. He assembled a faculty of outstanding scholars of national and international reputation. In 1911, the Board of Regents appropriated funds for the construction of a new building to house the law school. In May 1911, Monnet became acting president of the University of Oklahoma until a successor for President A. Grant Evans could be found. Monnet returned to his position as Dean in 1912 when Stratton D. Brooks assumed his duties as President. , In 1913, the new law building was completed and the lawyers moved from the basement of the library into their new home. In a dedication speech on March 4, 1914, it was declared that by the unanimous request of Law students that the new building would be named Monnet Hall. Monnet retired as the Dean in 1941 and took a leave of absence the following year. He returned to OU as a professor of Law and remained active in the School until his death in 1951. , Today Monnet Hall houses the Western History Collections, which is one of the largest collections in the world of photographs, documents, and writings on the history of the American West. It also houses the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, and includes an archive containing papers of many prominent members of Congress. , Monnet Hall is also the home of World Literature Today, one of the most highly regarded journals of comparative literature in the world. The journal hosts the biennial Puterbaugh Conference for outstanding writers throughout the world. The journal sponsors the Neustadt Prize, awarded every two years for international excellence in literature. Considered second in prestige only to the Nobel Prize, several Neustadt laureates and jurors have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. Monnet Hall in addition, houses a special program which brings outstanding leaders and scholars to campus for intensive seminars with students. It is known as the Oklahoma Scholar-Leadership Enrichment Program and was founded by Governor David L. Boren in 1975. , Dean Monnet would be pleased that while the Hall no longer houses the School of Law, it remains a place of great vitality and scholarship.