A week before he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in May 2024, Colby Alexander BA’24, JD’26 was starting work as a law clerk at the Marion County District Attorney’s Office. As a 3+3 student with Willamette University and Willamette Law, Alexander had just completed his 1L year of law school — and at the same time, his undergraduate degree.
“It was kind of funny to start a legal internship and not have graduated from my undergrad yet,” he recalls.
The 3+3 program, Law School Bound, is a partnership between Willamette University and Willamette Law that allows students to complete a bachelor’s degree and law degree in six years rather than the usual seven. So as a senior, Alexander was also a 1L.
The benefit of the program is that students can complete their education more quickly, effectively reducing costs and student loan debt, and providing them an extra year of earning power after graduation. For Alexander, who knew in high school that he wanted to become a lawyer, the program was exactly what he was looking for.
As an Eagle Scout whose interest in government and civics piqued during his time with the youth organization, he saw no reason to delay getting his JD after earning a bachelor’s degree.
“I am really interested in being a lawyer and practicing law,” Alexander says. “Nothing else appeals to me quite as much. I feel like I can really make a difference in the world and do something I feel really good about as a lawyer.
“I’m interested in the rule of law and the idea that the law should apply to everyone equally, so I’ve always been drawn to criminal prosecution to do something with my life that fits in with my value set.”
Although he is younger than most of his classmates in law school, Alexander says an advantage of the program is that he has remained in constant “school mode,” while those in his cohort may have had to adjust from being in the workforce. He says he has had a great experience overall, though he’s also had to make other adjustments.
Law school involves a different type of learning than undergraduate classes, he explains. And, while his friends were seniors and completing their bachelor’s degrees, he was busy studying for law finals.
His professors at both schools, however, have been invested in his success. He says the overarching values of Willamette are displayed in both places, as well as the commitment to the motto, Non nobis solum nati sumus — Not unto ourselves alone are we born.
Beginning his studies as a politics, policy, law and ethics major at Willamette has only enhanced his time at Willamette Law, he says.
“While I was in undergrad, we went inside the Oregon State Penitentiary for my ‘Reforming Criminal Justice’ class. We got to learn from adults in custody what the criminal justice system is like for them and how they can interact with restorative and transformative justice systems,” Alexander says. “So I’ve been able to, from my undergraduate career, pick up what criminal justice is like from that side, and from my law education and clerkship, see the prosecution and state side. It’s preparing me in a unique way for my career.”
As he gets closer to the finish line of his six-year educational journey, Alexander is excited to become a part of the legal community in Salem. Ultimately, his aspirational goal is to become a trial court judge in Marion County, but he plans to be a prosecutor for as long as he can.
“One of the great things about being at Willamette and what drew me initially is being so close to the capitol,” he says. “The school is such a big part of the Oregon legal community, the state government and the city of Salem. I’ve been able to see a lot of what goes on in the government and legal community in Oregon, and I’m excited to become a lawyer and be a part of that. I really feel at home here.”
