Your stories are part of our story. As we’ve celebrated the school’s anniversary throughout the academic year 2022–2023, we wanted to hear about the moments, people, and places that made your time at BU Law special. We put out the call on social media and in our newsletters for your memories, and you answered. Here is a lightly edited selection of responses.
— Kristoffer James Purisima (LLM’19), who stands here with Lecturer Virginia Greiman.
Misha Patel (’17) and Matthew Ruffe (’17), both of Section A, celebrated their marriage with their BU Law classmates: Brendan Blake (’17), Masha Zilberman (’17), Ryan Corn (’18), Katherine Fahey (’17), William Simpson (’17), Haley Mosher (Steggall) (’17), Sabina Mariella (’16), Brian Prewitt (’17), Adria Bonillas (’17), Devin Spencer (’17), Sean McCauley (’17), Harrison Freeman (JD’17, LLM’17), Stephanie Calnan (’17), Taylor Tremble (’17), and Meghan Stuer (Mahder) (’17).
Congratulations to BU law for its 150th anniversary. It is wonderful to see it thriving 37 years after I graduated. I was impressed with my professors in the 1980s (concepts I learned then have stayed with me throughout my career, whether as a finance lawyer on Wall Street or as general counsel), and the rich tradition of teaching excellence has grown. A special thank you to Professor Larry Yackle. I took any course I could with him as he combined a genuine passion to teach with an endearing humility. It was also wonderful to see the son of one of my closest friends (also LAW’85) graduate from BU Law (in facilities that I am jealous of!) and thrive in our profession.
— Jeff Hurwitz (’85)
APALSA 2017–18 e-board meetup: Henry Zeng, Diana Tao, Cynthia Liang, Julia Li, Alda Chan, and Helen Huang.
— Henry Zeng (JD’19, LLM’19)
I remember Professor Henry Monaghan’s angst after he won the US Supreme Court decision in Southeast Promotions v. Conrad (1975), holding that the City of Chattanooga violated the First Amendment when it denied use of city facilities to a group seeking to perform Hair (the musical). Professor Monaghan was livid that he did not receive a unanimous decision.
— Greg Friedman (’76)
I went to BU Law to become a lawyer and serve veterans. I’m so grateful for the law school’s part in my journey toward achieving that goal. My path to law school wasn’t easy. I was a high school dropout from Gardner, Mass., the Chair City, where most people (myself included) expected I would work in a factory someday like my father, who dropped out of high school before me. But I started undergrad after three combat tours as an army medic, and in 2015, I was admitted to BU Law as a Public Interest Scholar. It didn’t take me long to make my way to the lone east-facing seventh-floor classroom where I could watch the sunrise over Boston all by myself, because the rowers on the Charles River and I were the only people foolish enough to brave those cold Boston mornings. I felt so privileged to be there, watching the sunrise over the river’s basin gleaming off the State House’s gold dome, and bathing Beacon Hill in the light of a new day. In combat, sunrise was special—sacred even. I think that perspective let me truly appreciate each and every morning that I got to study the Constitution and its rights and protections, for which I’d once put my life on the line (long before I understood them). Although I love the work I do now, I sure do miss those quiet mornings reading my casebooks, pacing my reading with the Ivy League rowers, sipping a Pavement coffee and eating a bagel. I hope a new student has found that bank of windows. I hate to think of that view going unused. Go Terriers!
— Kenneth L. Meador (’18)
“It’s not every graduating class at BU Law that can look back and recall exams interrupted by bomb threats, but at the end of our first year [in 1970] that is exactly what happened to the Class of 1972. It seems President Nixon’s excursion into Cambodia during the unpopular war in Vietnam enraged the entire BU student body on campus. In a meeting at the law school, the law students were informed that the school was the only part of BU that was still operating, and that we needed to shut down in solidarity (the medical school was not involved). There was sentiment to do it, but a George Will (Hon.’03) lookalike stood up and promised that he intended to sue a long list of BU administrators if they did. Wow! The legal process working in real time! The law school remained open and, although I had two exams interrupted by bomb threats, most of the class opted to take their exams as scheduled and not postpone them until fall, which was an option. It was quite a memorable end to my first year at BU, but I guess all is well that ends well!”
— William A. Lewis Jr. (’72)
Meeting Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she spoke at BU Law in September 1995.
— Michelle Tarson (’98)
The Public Interest Law Journal was a place of refuge in the law tower for me thanks to these incredible people.
Lauren Eckenroth
has been writing and editing stories for and about higher education since 2013. She is the editor of The Record magazine at Boston University School of Law, where she strives to tell stories that reflect and celebrate the BU Law community. Prior to joining the law school, she was the editor of BU's Research magazine.
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