IIT Chicago Kent College of Law - Transcript Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Things IPANEIEDHYI For the bar is drawing near, Drawing us with fear and terror, Terror of a failure. So the class begins its fasting, Begins to burn the midnight oil, Begins to worry of the finals, Begins to think of cuts and things required by the examiners, Examiners who hold our fate. Thus the noble Hiawatha Told his tribe of the Law School, Told of many perils, Told of bar examinations, Examinations of July and November, November and july feared by all the seniors, Feared by Hiawatha. VVith his last words came his parting, Parting for the desk and quizzer, Parting for a life of study, Study of the law. Time of fasting and of prayer, To the great god Knowledge, Knowledge to help him pass the bar. Nalla '26 192 61?

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g Stuff hard to understand, Stuff he says, Thanks , For reciting on. Then that ancient branch of law, Branch so honored for its antiquity, Branch revered by Mr. Higgins, Branch denounced by the good judge, Ancient practice of the common law, Common law pleadings we must master, Master for the examination all the pleas in abatement Mr. Higgins says he'll ask them, Ask them now without a doubt. VVe don't know them, know not half of them, Know not all of the night's lesson. You'll recite on that next time, Next time you'll tell us all about it. Mr. Higgins means not maybe, Mr. Higgins makes us do it. Third year finds us with less number. Numbered less by far, Numbered fewer because of failure And the in-roads of the faculty. Seniors are we now, Now old men in the school, Now we know we know no law, Now we fear the bar exam. Pickett once again assails us, Hurls us into confusion, Confusion of the Conllict of Laws, Mr. Tupes drills us in Suretyship, Reviews for us the last night's lesson, Lesson of many cases, Lessons long he meters out. Mr. Bullard treats us not lightly, Not lightly in the law of the Constitution, The Constitution he delves into, Tells us the good law from the bad, Handles us in scholarly manner, Manner of the keen, deep thinker, Thinker who differentiates, Sees the reason of the rule. Corporations likewise greet us, Greet us with Mr. Wood, Mr. VVood a friend and fellow, Fellow whom we have learned to know, Fellow whom we have learned to like. Much there is to gain in law school, Much besides the actual knowledge, Knowledge which we must have, lO6 ' 1926

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! The Student as Seen by the Faculty HE editor requested Mr. VVood to prepare an article for the Transcript on, The Student as Seen by The Faculty. In response to this request he received the following letter. April 30, 1926. Mr. F. Allan Minne, Editor, The 1926 Transcript. ' Dear Allan: ' You asked me the other day to write something for the Transcript on the student as seen by the faculty member. Any formal article on this subject would require considerable skill and literary style, both of which attributes I promptly disclaim. The better plan, in my way of thinking, is just to answer your request by an informal letter. The circumstances of the faculty members of Chicago-Kent are different from those of the average college professor. Few of us are engaged in teaching as a professiong most of us are primarily engaged in the active practice or administration of law, before or on the bench. None of us are salariedg each receives a uniform compensation based entirely on the actual number of hours of teaching. All of us have as students young people of mature age, most of whom have definitely chosen our own profession as their own vocation. These facts, and the standing of the legal profession, combine to give us a genuine interest in, and a serious duty toward the students. I believe our View of the student can be treated under three quite distinct subjects. First, we see him as a studentg a young man of presumably sufficient preliminary educational training. It is decidedly a problem to cause him to acquire the right attitude toward the law, and the proper way in which to view, and to reason out, legal principles. The best we can do is to so conduct our respective courses that the means of acquiring these requirements are placed within his grasp. In the last analysis, the student is himself the only one who can achieve thisg we can do no more than oifer it to him. We note with interest, and often with surprise, the progress of our students, and their mental development in legal reasoning, and we view with interest also their participation in school activities, and their school spirit and school loyalty. Secondly, we see every student as a potentialityg as a future lawyer, and we seek in our respective courses, and in the curriculum as a whole, to give to each student that view of the law as a profession which will not only encourage and foster in him the desire and ambition to become a lawyer in the real sense of the term, but which will also instill and develop in him those traits of mind and character which are necessary for the attainment of that end. The ultimate and fundamental question which presents itself to us, as a faculty, at the end of each semester, in our consideration of the progress of each student toward his prospective and ever approaching graduation is this: Will he make a good lawyer P Sometimes the question assumes this form: VVill he ever make a lawyer? Our most serious duty toward ourselves, our school, and our profession, requires the most careful consideration of this question, and the standards of the school and the profession require that those students, 108 S l9:Zf6f