After many years of dedicated service to Willamette Law, Professors Susan Smith and Yvonne Tamayo retired in June 2024. Smith, an environmental and natural resources law scholar, and Tamayo, an expert on training students on essential skills for court proceedings and developing professionalism, as well as university counsel, taught for 35 and 26 years, respectively.

Each had years of experience as practicing lawyers before seeking positions in academia.

“Professor Tamayo is a model of professionalism and dedication to her students,” says Professor Caroline Davidson. “Her door is always open, literally and figuratively. My walk back to my office from class will be much less fun without her. Professor Smith has been a staunch advocate for the environment. Moreover, at the law school, she has been a consistent, thoughtful presence at scholarly talks and faculty meetings.”

Smith and Tamayo shared some parting thoughts before entering retirement.

Professor Susan Smith

For the past 35 years, I have shared with my Willamette Law students my belief that they could choose not to be just competent or good lawyers, but great lawyers. I have always defined “great” by 20 characteristics I observed in my most cherished mentors. Apart from substantive knowledge and skills, my list included “learned and thoughtful; sincere, honest, candid; calm with an ability to be passionate; compassionate; sensible and centered in worldview; diligent and dedicated; persistent;” and above all else, “committed to the service of others.”

I have always told my students that ‘C’ grades in their substantive classes did not prevent them from, nor did ‘A’ grades assure them of, becoming great lawyers. The final exams in most classes test so few attributes of a great lawyer. Many of my students have become great lawyers. I am proud of every one of them.

Virtually all of my students try to make the world a better place, with many addressing the needs of ordinary people, not huge corporations or the wealthy. Even those who end up in large firms devote much of their time to pro bono work and service to the profession. That’s the Willamette motto translated into blood, sweat and tears.

Since I specialized in teaching environmental and natural resources law, many of my students spend their careers trying to save people and the planet, doing far more than I could have in full-time practice. Thank you for your hard work and commitment!

I leave Willamette optimistic for our future, despite the climate crisis, ongoing destruction of God’s creation, persistence of insidious racism and bias, resurgence of petty tyrants throughout the world, and the ever-widening gulf of wealth between the 1% and the rest of us. I am optimistic, because I know the Willamette Law students I’ve taught are on the job.

Remember these words of wisdom paraphrased from Secondhand Lions:

People are basically good; honor, courage and virtue mean everything; power and money, money and power mean nothing; good always triumphs over evil; and love — true love — never dies.

Thank you to everyone in the Willamette community. It has been an honor and privilege to have been part of your journey.

Professor Yvonne Tamayo

It was late July 1998 in Salem. I arrived from Florida with my two cats, Sticker and Lucky, to teach law at Willamette University College of Law.

Soon after my arrival, I visited Roth’s Fresh Market. At checkout, the cashier asked me what plans I had for the weekend. “Do I know you?” I wondered. No, I didn’t. “Mmmm, I’m not sure yet,” I hesitantly replied.

Next stop, the gas station. As was my custom, I exited my car to pump the gas, when a man with weathered skin, a bright yellow gas station vest and a ready smile appeared. “Let me do that for you,” he blithely offered. Well, this is weird, I thought, but I relented. He filled the tank and bid me goodbye with a cheery, “Have a good day, sweetheart.”

The puzzling behavior continued. I quickly learned that in Salem, car horns are rarely deployed. Drivers graciously allow you to change lanes in front of them without fuss or tension. They consistently use their turn signals to communicate their intentions. And, most shocking, Salemites routinely acknowledge friends and strangers, alike, with a nod and smile. Religious misgivings aside, I wondered, “Am I in heaven?”

Having spent 30 years on the East Coast, I was not prepared for what awaited me at Willamette University and the College of Law. No indifferent assistants? No hostile colleagues? No ever-present expectation that one action may set off a tension-filled exchange with a coworker?

Nope, not here. Instead, I discovered exceptionally kind and supportive colleagues and staff with whom it was a pleasure to work. I also found interesting, hardworking and mostly delightful law students. Twenty six years later, this remains true today. And so, on my departure to sunnier climes, I write this love letter.

To the many friends I’ve made, to Salem, and more specifically, the broader Willamette community, thank you. I love you.

Plans for rest, relaxation and continued good work

Tamayo moved to Key Biscayne, an island 15 minutes east of Miami. She planned to give her rainy-day clothes away, stocking up on linen clothes, flip flops and a bathing suit or two.

“I will join a group that takes care of the feral cats on the island,” she says. “To this end, I will trade my Mercedes sedan for a Subaru station wagon, where I won't care what cat rescue-related items I throw in the back. Best of all, I will rejoin three generations of my Miami family and enjoy their company.”

Smith continues to spend her time on water and climate justice by organizing and writing. She is serving as a commissioner with the World Council of Churches on its new Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, battling land, water and food injustice, which are intimately tied to climate disruption, she says.

“We help build awareness within faith communities of the climate link with droughts, lack of safe drinking water and water for family farms, floods, wildfires and heat waves,” Smith says. “We empower faith communities to fight deforestation, continued use of coal, and development of new projects involving plastics, coal, oil and gas.

Smith says the interfaith movement seeks to protect and restore the integrity of God’s creation.

“So you might simply say that retirement allows me to do God's work for creation,” she explains. “I also spend time with friends and family, hiking and kayaking and otherwise enjoying the wonders of nature.”

At Willamette Law’s 2024 Commencement ceremony, Professor Smith and Professor Tamayo were recognized as emeritus professors of law. This honor recognizes their years of service to the law school, alongside their larger impact on the legal community and legal education.