University of Texas School of Law - Peregrinus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Dedicatee . . . for his many years of dedication and service to the legal profession 3

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The Story of Pere' The Peregrinus was born in 1900 as a satiric reaction to a lecture given by Judge W. S. Simkins in an Equity class. The Judge had explained that the Praetor Peregrinus was a Roman chancellor who traveled, or peregrinated, among the conquered nations of Rome to settle legal disputes. The lecture evoked extensive humorous comment, culminating in the birth of the Peregrinus as a caricature drawn on Judge Simkins' blackboard. The prominent features of the Peregrinus have come to symbolize the maxims in equity that guide the administration of the legal system. The Irish ditchers' boots on the front feet symbolize the protection of the least of mankind while the boxing gloves on the back feet caution that even the greatest of men must fear the law's power. The arched back indicates that the law is ever ready to protect right and prevent wrong. The sharp beak indicates the power to penetrate the mysteries of the law, and the bushy tail indicates that equity brushes aside the technicalities of the law and does justice on the merits. Pere' has through the years served the students of The University of Texas Law School well as their patron saint. In 1949, he graciously lent his name to this annual Law School publication. The Sunflower Ceremony Marrow of Tradition Since the early days of this century the sunflower has been the symbol of graduation for the Law School of The University of Texas. The tradition began when senior law students rebelled against wearing caps and gowns at the graduation exercises. When allowed to choose their own distinctive symbol to wear at the exercises, they chose the sunflower because it belongs to a plant family with world wide distribution, as do lawyers, and because it keeps its face to the sun as lawyers keep their faces to the light of justice. What began as a protest became a tradition. Today the graduation exercises are still informal, and the presentation of sunflowers to Law School graduates serves as a reminder to them of their duty never to cease to question the conventional. 2

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To Know The Shape Of The Past 1972 PEREGRINUS STAFF Macka L Murrah Editor-in-Chief W. Richard Ellis Assistant Editor Jack G. Wise Business Manager Julia McNair Editorial Advisor Ike Baruch Stanley Farrar Maurice S. Kato Photographers Activities.................14-43 In no other human endeavor is the past so inextricably bound with the present as in the law. The law, built bV precedent and tradition, is the collective of human experiences. To know the past, the law of Moses, the code of Justinian, the common law of England, is to know the present and ourselves. But to know the past is not to be bound by it. The greatest lesson history can teach us is the inexorable process of change. It is our heritage. Our duty is to obey that heritage, to recognize the wisdom and folly of the past, and to seek new solutions. 4