January 29, 2008

Cooley Law School Commemorates Auburn Hills Campus

Speakers at the Cooley Auburn Hills ribbon-cutting event on January 29; from left, Kurt Hassberger, Rockford Construction; Margie Simmons, SHW Group; Thomas Tanghe, Assistant City Manager, City of Auburn Hills; L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive; Don LeDuc, Cooley President and Dean; Jalal Dallo, Cooley SBA President; James McDonald, Mayor, City of Auburn Hills; and John Nussbaumer, Cooley Associate Dean of the Auburn Hills campus.

AUBURN HILLS, MICH. (Jan. 29, 2008) – The Thomas M. Cooley Law School formally marked the opening of its new Auburn Hills campus with a ribbon-cutting ceremony today. The new campus, located at 2630 Featherstone Road, opened its doors to more than 600 students earlier this month.

"We're excited to begin our 35th year with a dedicated Southeast Michigan campus for our growing student population in Oakland County,"said Don LeDuc, Cooley Law School's president and dean.

The 68,227-square-foot structure on the 67-acre wooded site was recently renovated to include state-of-the art learning facilities and administrative offices. An addition will nearly double the size of the building and is slated to be finished in January 2009. Once complete, students will have four large classrooms, several smaller classrooms, trial and appellate courtrooms and clinical facilities.

"This dedicated campus is an exceptional learning environment because it has been tailored to meet the educational needs of law students," said John Nussbaumer, Cooley Law School's associate dean. "Many Cooley students also appreciate Cooley's flexible scheduling options, including three entering classes per year. We're currently accepting applications for our May class and we're excited for additional students to begin studying at our new campus."

The structure also includes many environmentally sustainable building features, such as renewable and recyclable materials, reflective roofing to minimize heat gain and an enhanced heating and ventilation system. The school plans to seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the United States Green Building Council.

"The Thomas M. Cooley Law School ribbon cutting marks a significant day for Rockford Companies, said Kurt Hassberger, COO, Rockford Companies. "We had a strict timeline to adhere to on the renovation portion of the project and a lot of LEED focused work to ensure we were able to turn over a sustainable facility to Cooley Law. For us to be able to celebrate this day with our highly valued client brings myself and Rockford a great deal of satisfaction. Cooley Law should be proud of their newly renovated "green" facility. We certainly are."

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Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the country and includes the largest African-American and second-largest minority student enrollment. Founded in 1972, it operates J.D. programs in Michigan's capital city in Lansing, in suburban Oakland County, and in downtown Grand Rapids. Today, Cooley Law School has more than 12,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide and also offers joint degree and Master of Law programs. Cooley enters classes three times a year, in January, May, and September. Additional information about Cooley can be found at www.cooley.edu.

Celebrating its 20th year anniversary, Rockford Construction Company, Inc. was founded in 1987 by John Wheeler and Michael VanGessel. Today, Rockford Companies includes Rockford Construction Company, Inc. and Rockford Development Group, L.L.C. Known simply as Rockford, the organization has nearly 200 employees with locations in Grand Rapids and Traverse City, and is currently licensed in 35 states throughout the nation.