curricular improvement. Despite the new emphasis on science, Healy revitalized the university's commitment to rhetoric. In 1875, he established the Merrick Debate, hosted by the Philodemic Society, following a donation by alumnus Richard T. Merrick. He also gave the Society a privileged place among student groups by setting aside its own room in Healy Hall. Three graduation medals were created: the Merrick Debating Medal, the Morris Historical Medal, and the Tower Scientific Medal. Healy also discontinued the monastic practice of have one student read aloud in the refectory during meals. As well as reforming undergraduate science education, Healy sought to bring the School of Medicine up to rigorous, modern medical standards. While the school had previously operated almost entirely autonomously of the rest of the university, Healy dissolved its governing board, bringing the school under his direct control, and replaced the entire faculty (with only the founding faculty remaining as professors emeriti). The length of the curriculum was lengthened from two to three years, which now included clinical education. For the first time, applicants were required to sit for an entrance exam. During Healy's presidency, the Law School grew, driven in large part by the District of Columbia Bar's decision to require new applicants to the bar to have completed three years of formal legal education. In the early 1880s, the school relocated twice within Downtown Washington, but was financially unable to move to the university's Georgetown campus as it desired. Constructing Healy Hall Healy and Keller met in 1874 and determined that Georgetown's most pressing need was to expand its physical facilities. They entertained the possibility of relocating to a new, nearby campus north of New Cut Road (today known as Reservoir Road), or moving the university out of Washington, D.C. entirely. However, the cost of both of these proposals was prohibitive, and they decided instead to improve the existing campus. Replacing plans for the construction of several smaller buildings, Healy undertook to construct the grand building that he envisioned as prefect in an embellished architectural style that contrasted with the city's simple Federal architecture. It would connect Old North and the Maguire Building. In 1874, Healy commissioned architects John L. Smithmeyer and Paul J. Pelz to design what would later become known as Healy Hall, Georgetown's flagship building. The building would rise five stories, topped by a clock tower, and incorporate elements of several architectural styles into a