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

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The Sunflower Tradition r.v ' iitl«lS ! pl.or ol :v himselt xl ithhis side al lech- ice, ed nose, he lit the rele- ngl for the 5 the Irish ' s ,:,:;i;t:v,:ih ' shoe (evi- i). The box- et|backup ; are all- nvned witk ined thit (orsprinf everreadj tevent the For 15 or 20 years, after the University was established in 1883, none of the graduates wore caps and gowns for graduation ceremonies. At the turn of the century, a sales person offered to rent seniors caps and gowns. At that time, the School of Law was in the basement of the Main Building. No one thought to send a message down- stairs and invite even a few law seniors to the meeting. A committee of faculty and seniors met and because they had not been invited to the original meeting and had not been consulted on the advisability of this step, law students refused to wear caps and gowns. Perhaps fore- shadowing later events, they then for- mulated the reason to uphold their decision. This was, that caps and gowns at such tmie were tradition to, and representative of, academic school and not the professional school. Granted, even judges had worn wigs and gowns for centuries, it was worn for a purpose entirely distinct from the purpose of the proposed. The faculty met with the President, and at the meeting a decision was reached that the law students must con- form to the wishes of the senior class or they must wear a significant insignia at the exercises. It was not in a spirit of conciliation or in appreciation of the dignity of the occasion that the sun- flower was chosen as the distinctive insignia. It was agreed, however, that the senior law students would wear white suits. Once more, reasons were advanced to justify the choice of the flower. The sunflower, genus Helianthus, belongs to a family with worldwide distribution. So, also do lawyers. As the sunflower always keeps its face turned to the sun, the lawyer turns to the light of justice. The Sunflower Ceremony used to be held once during the year, on Commencement Day. As the School of Law student population grew, it was decided to have two exercises during the year, one in November for the December graduates and another in May for the May and August gradu- ates. Originally, the sunflower was pimied on each senior by his or her best friend. Today the Associate Dean or Assistant Dean assumes this responsi- bility. The Sunflower Tradition - 17

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The L e n d of the F e r e d r I n V r The Peregrinus - the patron saint of the University of Texas School of Law - had its beginning in the Equity class taught by Judge W.S. Simkins in 1918. Here ' s the way Simkins told the story: Many years ago I was trying to explain to the class in Equity the origin of the system in Rome and the source of equity in the Roman Empire. At that time, fledglings just from the high school, they were admitted to the law school. Many of them had never heard of the Roman Empire, and not a few spelled cow with a K. Well, I explained to them that when Rome conquered a nation it was incorporated into the Roman Empire - that the Roman citizen was not subject to the laws of these incorporated nations - that in due course commerce sprang up between the citizens of Rome and the barbaric nations, and there was no law to determine and settle their contractual relations. The Roman Emperor, to settle the troubles arising out of the fact that there was no law applicable to control their contracts, appointed a Praetor (or chancellor) to travel among these nations, and to settle all disputes with- out reference to the Laws of Rome, or the incorporated Nations, but to do jus- tice and decide all disputes, alone by the conscience of the Praetor. Peregrinating from one nation to the other, he was called the Praetor Peregrinus. The boneheads of the class evi- dently thought that Peregrinus was an internal organ of the body for they con- tinually greeted each other with ' How ' s your Peregrinus today? ' This fact seems to have developed the humorous side of the incident, and Russell Savage developed a concrete expression of it on the blackboard and thus the tradition began. While various descriptions of the Peregrinus have been given over the years, Julie Elfenbein, editor of the 1918 Cactus, got an original description of the Peregrinus from Simkins himself: Perry is a creature of Equity. With his enormous tail he brushes aside all tech- nicalities in the favor of justice. With the long pointed nose, he delves into the intricacies of the rele- vant and irrelevant (looking) for the Truth. On his left forefoot is the Irish ' s ditcher ' s boot, confessing his member- ship in the rank and file. He puts his right foot foremost and is adorned with an expensive ' Stacy Adam ' shoe (evi- dently a lot of force in 1918). The box- ing gloves (on his hind feet) back up the law and Equity. His eyes are all-see- ing and his fine head is crowned with the white cap of Truth. Simkins also explained that Perry ' s arched back, ready for spring- ing, indicates that the law is ever ready to protect the right or prevent the wrong. 16- Peregrinus Story

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18 -Alumni Reunion