April 4, 2002
Thank you, Editor in Chief Jacqueline B. Penrod,
Sharon
McCullen, and colleagues for this opportunity to join in the Law School
Communitys salute to a jewel. I'll
share a bit of history in these brief remarks.
The evolution of the Temple Law Review
mirrors the
evolution of the Law School and vice versa.
Begun in 1927 as an addendum to a proud but
provincial
Teaching, Evening-only Law School, the Law Quarterly (as it was
then
called) was somewhat of an aside when compared with the demands on student
editors and quality of comparable Law Reviews at national law schools.
After all, Temple Law students attended classes
three or
more nights a week while working full-time every day.
Before 1963, a full-time faculty of nine taught about
500
students in two divisions one Evening, the other Day with the assistance
of a battery of practitioners as adjunct faculty.
For an evolving Temple University, the Law School
was
then a prestige program but more pertinent it was a cash-cow because its
revenues were substantially more than its expenses, to the ultimate
benefit of
more expensive or inefficient parts in the University.
During the past 30 years, the University invested
substantially more and expected more from the Law School, and the Law
School
invested and expected more from the Law Review. And
mainly through Dean Reinstein's efforts, the Law School now has a real
endowment.
In the 1960's and 1970's the Law Quarterly
was
the only scholarly student publication, and the American Journal of
Legal
History was the only refereed publication of the Law School.
Today, there are four major student publications.
Today, the Law Review is a consistently
demanding
enterprise. It is an integral
part
of a national, multi-dimensional Temple Law School with a global
perspective.
In reaching this point, we acknowledge a debt of
gratitude to the pioneers.
During
the 1950's and early 1960's, Professors Erwin Surrency, Warren Ballard,
Elden Magaw, Earl Finbar Murphy, Ray Jay Davis were devoted and
enthusiastic in
their support of the Law Quarterly.
In the late 1960's and the 1970's, Herman Stern,
Sam
Polsky, Bob Reinstein, Diane Maleson, Ruth Kovnat, Peter Sevareid, Fax
Leary and
Dolores Korman Sloviter, Jim Strazzella, Dick Cappalli, Jerry Sloan and
Dick
Arens, and Sharon Harzenski and Rob Bartow were your champions.
It was also in the 1970's that the Law
Quarterly
finally became a full-fledged student enterprise, including electing its
Editorial Board. Publication in 1971 of the so-called Liacouras Report on
Bar Examination Procedures triggered the confrontation between the
administration and the Editorial Board led by Editor in Chief Sam Klein,
Joseph
Hennessy and Tom Leonard.
That
development and faculty support (led by Professor Reinstein) for an
independent
student-controlled Law Quartery reversed the anachronism of faculty
control over
law review administrative and editorial decisions, as though students
could not
to be trusted.
It is not surprising that the quality and stature
of the Law
Quarterly improved substantially after the student take-over. With
full responsibility to achieve and maintain excellence, the editors did
just
that. In the interest of
brevity,
I'll name five of those whom I recall leading the way: Dan Whelan (Volume
47),
Richard Walker (Volume 48), George Moore (Volume 49), Joanne Thomas (Volume 50),
Barbara
Iancone (Volume 51).
My own contributions were insignificant even if
during my
decade as Dean, the size of the annual Volumes doubled in total
pages.
Volume 43 (1969-70)
had 422
pages, Volume 46 (1972-73) had 628 pages, and Volume 52
(1979) contained 1,260 pages, although Volume 55 (1982-83) had only
1,176 pages approximately the size of the succeeding volumes.
Quantity does not often equate to quality, but for
the
Law Quarterly, theres been a connection.
During Carl Singley's years as Dean,
the Law Review (as it is now titled) reached a consistently
high
quality experience for students and renown as a journal.
And during Bob Reinstein's stewardship, the Law
Review has not only maintained the highest standards as a publication
but
helped improve the students rigorous experience.
While faculty and deans have helped, in the final
analysis its the students who make-or-break a Law Review.
Tradition at great institutions helps instill in the students a
duty to
maintain excellence. It is
you, the
students from Joseph Kleinbard, editor of Volume 1, and Ralph S. Graham,
who
published the first Note in Volume 1, to Jackie Penrod and her colleagues
in Volume 75, and future
editors
who plan carefully, labor long daily hours, and take appropriate risks in
leadership.
It is you who brought us to this point. It
is you who have raised our expectations for the future.
So, I am honored to join in saluting you for a job
well
done for your first 75 years.
Were
proud of the Temple Law Review and the Beasley Law School.
May your 100th anniversary be celebrated
in a
world of human dignity and peace.
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