Notre Dame Law School NDLScholarship 1952–1968: Joseph O'Meara Law School Deans 8-15-1961 Report of the Dean 1960–1961 Joseph O'Meara Notre Dame Law School Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/jomeara Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Joseph O'Meara, Report of the Dean 1960–1961, ([Notre Dame, Ind.]: Notre Dame Law School, 1961). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Deans at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in 1952–1968: Joseph O'Meara by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LAW LIBRARY UNIV. OF NOTRE DAMI jotre amt latu ‘ctioot eport of the mean 1960=1961 tan’ eport 1960=61 I begin with some observations about our students — past, present as nd prosptiVe — I did in earlier reports. THE STUDENT BODY .5a1OLLMENT First-year enrollment dropped to 63 from 78 in September 1959, a decline of 19.2%. Total enrollment declined, too, but very slightly, that is, from 175 I7ceIIece s ør AND WE CAN BE CONTENT in September, 1959, to 169 or 3.4%. Following are comparative data on beginning students registered THIS REQUIRES, ON THE PART WITH NOTHING LESS. Op in September of each of the last 10 years. THE LAW SCHOOL, THE HIGHEST STANDARDS AND, ON THE PART ENTERING CLASS SUSTAINED HARD WORK. IN NO OTHER OF THE STUDENTS, Corn- En- bination Veterans** Degree Students*** WAY CAN OUR GRADUATES BE PROPERLY PREPARED FOR THE rolirnent Sludents* ND Non-ND ND Non-ND Total 56 26 3 13 GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT LIE AHEAIJ. 1951 14 27 1952 74 34 2 1 23 14 37 THESE RESPONSIBILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES WILL BE MANY AND 1953 104 66 18 20 38 1954 63 21 18 24 42 VARIED. THEY WILL PROVIDE FULL SCOPE FOR THE 1955 62 16 2 11 33 44 1956 69 15 3 20 31 51 PROFITABLE PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT OF WELL-TRAINED LEGAL 1957 74 18 5 15 36 51 1958 89 16 1 2 27 43 70 FOR MINDS ; AND THEY WILL PROVIDE FULL SCOPE THE 1959 78 17 18 43 61 1960 63 13 3 DEDICATED USE OF ALL THE SKILLS OF THE LAWYER’S 10 37 47 CALLING IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. *Notre Dame undergraduates enrolled in one of the combination programs which enable a student to obtain both an undergraduate and a law degree in six yea?s. **Studeflts accepted under the privilege extended to veterans of entering after completing three-fourths of the work required for an undergraduate degree. To illustrate, in 1951 three students were admitted under this privilege, all of whom had done their preparatory work at colleges or universities other than Notre Dame. ***Students who entered with an undergraduate degree. To illustrate, in 1951 twenty-seven students were admitted who had already obtained an undergraduate degree, 1 3 at the University of Notre Dame and 14 elsewhere. r 2 Dean’s Report 196043j Notre Dame Law School 3 Total September enrollment in each of the last 9 years is given STANDARDS OF ADMISSION in the following table. .. The increase in rejections reflects the introduction 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 standards of of higher admission, based upon a study of our own experience. 221 244 201 167 150 150 165 175 169 To be eligible for admission, an applicant must make a score of or better on the Law 500 Last year’s student body included students from 32 states. 26% School Admission Test and be in the top of his college class. half of the students were married; slightly over 25% were veterans. We will accept an applicant whose Law School Admission Test score Colleges and universities represented in the student body totaled 61. is between 400 and 500 but only if he was in top quarter of his college class. An :1 The decline in first-year enrollment the applicant whose Test score was due chiefly to the smaller is below 400 is not eligible number of students entering with an undergraduate degree from unless he was in the top 10% of his Notre college class. Similarly, applicants Dame. A similar phenomenon occurred the year before. A glance who were not in the top half at of their college class will be accepted the table on page 1 will make this clear. As there appears, the but only if they score 600 or number better on the Law School Admission of students with a Notre Dame degree last September was smaller Test. These criteria are than in any other year of the 10-year period. pretty crude but they seem to us to be the best presently available. On the basis Happily, the number of applications for admission from of past experience, they should Notre result in a substantial reduction of Dame men is substantially ahead of last year. There seems to our first-year failure rate. be At times, no good reason to hope, therefore, that there will be more students doubt, common sense will rebel against the cation of our new appli with a Notre Dame degree in the class entering in September, 1961, admissions standards in particular cases. We will than the handful last September. give priority to common sense. As a corollary of the smaller number of students entering with MORTALITY a Notre Dame degree, the percentage of non-Notre Dame men The percentage of (that is, students who did their undergraduate work in colleges and students dismissed for scholastic deficiency in universities other than Notre each of the last eight academic years Dame) increased, as the following table is shown in the following table. ;:j;; , shows. 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd ‘ 1953-54 Year NON-NOTRE DAME MEN IN ENTERING CLASS 19.2% 12.0% 10.5% 1954-55 15.9 14.9 1955-56 5.0 Number 17.7 6.5 1.7 1956-57 27.6 1953 20 18 12.8 5.4 1957-58 29.7 1954 24 36.5 2.8 5.4 1958-59 21.3 1955 35 56.45 2.6 0.0 1959-60 25.6 8.3 1956 34 49.27 1960-61 0.0 1957 41 55.4 22.2 6.0 0.0 1958 45 50.56 Total 1959 43 55.1 first-year attrition, including voluntary as well tary withdrawals, as involun 1960 40 63.5 for the last seven academic years appears following table. in the Applications for admission are running 1954-55 23.8% ahead of last 1955-56 1956-57 1957-58 1958-59 year. Concurrently there has been a substantial increase in the number 1959-60 1960-61 34.9% 30.6% 40.6 54% 30.3% of rejections; and withdrawals — usually because the applicant realizes 29.4% 34.9% he can’t make the grade financially — are more numerous than last RECRUITMENT year. On balance I anticipate a further decl’ine in first-year enroll ment and in total enrollment as well. As I pointed out in my Report for last year wide decline (p. 4) the nation- As I have emphasized many times, we are in the number and quality of law students convinced that a small upon us a heavy imposes law school can offer very great advantages. Some burden of responsibility to take all increase in our to improve our suitable steps present enrollment, however, is very much to be desired. recruitment program. To that end alumni mittees were set up in corn- Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Day- 4 Dean’s Report 196Oi Notre Dame Law School 5 ton, Dubuque, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, New York, Philade1p, wbos education has already depleted the family’s resources. St. Louis and Washington, D.C. The function of these cornxnjt time when is to interview first-rate prospective law students and talk There was a an ambitious and energetic man could to th law school. about the practice of law and the advantages of the Notre ut himself through Those days are gone. The law has Dame an extent, both Law School Many of the committees did excellent work, and £rown to such in magnitude and complexity, that I legal education has become, perforce, a full-time confident they will be increasingly fruitful The following comnutt ietting a occupation. our students to devote to it not less than 60 hours members should be accorded special praise Raymond Broj. We expect a J week. That doesn’t leave much time for a job. Indeed, we feel that enck, 35 , Valentine B Deale, ‘39 , Honorable William B Law student cannot devote to outside employment more than 10 or less, ‘44L ; Peter F. Flaherty, ‘51L; George N. Tompkins, ‘56L a 12 hours a week, at the most, without damage to his legal education. Thomas S. Calder, ‘57L; Robert P. Gorman, ‘57L; Lawrence A. Kane, Jr., ‘57L ; Burton M. Greenburg, ‘58L ; Eugene F. Way, Of course, law students can work in the summertime. So far as ‘58L ; Daniel W. Hammer, ‘59L. I know every one of our students has summer employment. At best, We continued to visit Catholic colleges and universities in the though, there is a differential of between $500 and $1000 a year states from which we draw the greater part of our students. The between what a student can earn and the cost of studying law at number visited last year was 21. The following members of the Notre Dame. Faculty assisted me in making these visits : Assistant Dean Broderick As I said in my Report for last year (p.