Once-proud graduate no longer fan of alma mater
Brian R. Cook
Published: June 30, 2008
When I was at Boston College Law School, I was taught by law professors who had protested against the Vietnam War, defended the right to inter-racial marriage and fought to save the planet. They were children of the '60s, and I drank it all in like a thirsty plant being watered.
My classmates for the most part were younger, Republican and looking to be hired by some large law firm. I felt a bit alone, but the professors and the school gave me hope.
BC Law was, at the time, selling itself as a "public-service-minded" law school hoping to create a place where people with law degrees understood that there was a world out there that needed talented yet compassionate people focused on something other than starting salaries and partnership.
I, like so many others, went out into the legal world and looked in the rear-view mirror only once in a while to see what became of my law school - the only law school I ever wanted to attend.
This year, I was asked by a student whom I did not know well to write a letter of recommendation to BC. I met him and heard his story and could not wait to help him. He was not the son of an alumnus or a politician or a wealthy business leader. He was a veteran who had served his country and luckily returned, albeit disabled, with a renewed sense of place and interest in studying law after being in a world where there was no rule of law.
This experience changed him. He improved his grades, took the LSATs and applied to law schools. He was accepted at nearly every school he applied to except BC. In fact, BC Law, the school that spoke comfortably from Chestnut Hill about public service and lawyers who made a difference, did not even wait-list him.
When I inquired about his application, I was told that BC does not "track" veterans or even know how many of its class are veterans. The school certainly doesn't know how many of its applicants or admits are disabled veterans.
I would be impressed if I discovered that the admissions process was blind. Unfortunately, the number of politicians, wealthy or influential business leaders and other "unpolitically-correct-to-mention" categories are certainly entered into the admissions decision, but a kid who was sent to the Middle East or Afghanistan while BC undergrads drink vodka from an ice sculpture at the BC-Notre Dame football game is not "tracked."
I must say I am not a big fan of these wars, nor am I a very big fan of the military in general. But I do acknowledge the sacrifice made by these young people, which allows me to live a quiet, safe life in a country far from military action. As such, I do not have a problem with them receiving special rates on mortgages or assistance with law school admissions.
I am sorry to say that I am no longer a big fan of BC. The law school not only failed to admit Adam; it failed to recognize his sacrifice in the worst way - it ignored it.
BC also failed each and every one of its graduates, and those who came before, to whom such service matters.
BC Law does not really need another Ropes & Gray associate or state worker with a law degree. BC Law may not need anything, except to climb a few rungs higher on the US News and World Report Survey. But it seems only fitting that BC open its doors to a disabled veteran and help make this world a better place for having him in it.
Brian R. Cook is in the legal division at Daley & Associates in Boston.