By my calculation, this column marks the beginning of my 10th year writing for the Journal-World. During the past few days I’ve been thinking about all the changes that the world and I have undergone over the years I’ve been privileged to share my thoughts with you, and I’ve even gone back to look at some of the columns I’ve written. Of course, there are some I wish I’d gone over one more time, and there are several with which I no longer agree. But, by and large, I have to say that writing this column has been a wonderful experience and one that I hope I can continue for a long time to come.

Through the years I’ve been asked why I write this column. There are actually a number of reasons. When I first came to Lawrence and Kansas University, I approached the publisher of this newspaper and proposed that he permit me to do the column. I felt that I could help raise the profile of the law school, the university and of the legal profession by writing a regular column on the law. Earlier in my career, I had done something similar as host of a weekly radio show on an NPR station, and I thought that it would transfer well into print.

For the first few years this column was only about the law because I believed that it would be inappropriate for me, as a dean, to write about the other subject I knew reasonably well: universities. A number of years ago, after I stepped down as dean, I decided to expand the subject matter of this column and write about the university as well.

I have to admit, though, that the main reason I write the column is no longer to represent the law school and serve it and the legal profession. That’s still a concern of mine, but the truth is that after nine years and over 200 columns, the main reason I write the column is that I really enjoy doing it. Writing this column has brought me a gift that I never expected.

Most university professors live somewhat isolated lives. We are surrounded all day by young men and women. Our job is to teach them and to do research and to contribute to the life of the university. As a result, our world is often very restricted; it consists of the university, our families and our small group of friends. A few faculty always involve themselves in the community, but this is never as common as it should be.

I have found over the years of writing this column that I have come to know a great number of people in Lawrence and in the state of Kansas as a whole. I’ve been fortunate because so many people over the years have written me or telephoned me to comment on something I’ve said. And I must say that not all the comments have been favorable! But favorable or not, through this column I’ve been able to become a part of the Lawrence and Douglas County communities in a way that would not have been possible without it.

I also realize that it is a great privilege to be able to share one’s thoughts in print with one’s neighbors. I’m not so arrogant as to think that everything I have to say is interesting. There are many Tuesday mornings (when I file the column) that I wonder whether what I’ve written is so banal and boring as to bring an end to the privilege once and for all. But I’ve been lucky because you have been immensely tolerant.

The most fun, though, has been the times when I’ve been someplace at the university or in town when somebody has come up to me and said that they had read the column and had a comment or an idea for a future column. After nine years of writing a column every other week, new ideas are always welcome!

At any rate, I thought I ought to let all of you know how grateful I am for being able to write this column and even more for the comments so many of you have made (even the negative ones) over the past nine years. Keep them coming!

— Mike Hoeflich is a professor in the Kansas University School of Law.