By Thomas Brennan
Although I have retired as president of Thomas M. Cooley Law School, I continue to be a professor and dean emeritus. A couple of years ago, Dean LeDuc asked me to write some articles for the Jackson Legal News, as he had been requested by that publication to provide some legal content.
The result was a series of essays. This is number 80, and the last, at least for now. I have enjoyed the opportunity to reminisce and to revisit those good old days. The memories are sometimes quite vivid, sometimes jogged into focus as I rummage through old files on the second floor of the Temple.
I am conscious that what I have written has an autobiographical flavor. Most of it is generously sprinkled with the first person singular. The temptation to boast when I speak or write of the Thomas M.
Cooley Law School overwhelms me. Launching the school has been the proudest achievement of my life, and so many people have been so generous in their commendation, perhaps I can be forgiven for letting the kudos go to my head.
Still, I am keenly aware that I was only one of many, many people who brought Cooley into being and made it the magnificent institution it is today. I have mentioned a few of them in these early chronicles.
Others, like Dean Mike Cox, Controller Bill Robinson, publicist Terry Carella, and a host of able faculty members and administrators are part of what may best be described in the words of Paul Harvey as “the rest of the story.”
It should not fall to me to be the one who writes it. The history of Cooley Law School has not been experienced by one man alone. It should not be written by a single pen. My perspective is admittedly clouded by self interest. Other voices should be heard.
And there is much to tell. The opening of the law library building, the acquisition and reconstruction of the Cooley Center, the inauguration of weekend classes, the celebration of the millennium, accreditation by the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges, and more recently the opening of branch campuses in Oakland County and in Grand Rapids are but a few of the stories that remain to be told.
Oh yes, and one more; the retirement of the founder.
When I stepped aside as president at the end of 2001, I was 72 years of age. I had stayed too long. The board of directors had to pry me out of my chair. It wasn’t pretty. But I must confess that my bruised ego was more than adequately assuaged by the outpouring of affection and gratitude that came with retirement. The faculty presented me with a lavish purse, intended to finance some long delayed travel.
It sent Polly and me on a cruise to Alaska, with enough left over to provide a whirlwind trip to the big apple to catch up on Broadway.
And then there were the letters, two bound volumes of them. Embossed with the flattering title “A Promise Fulfilled,” were hundreds of messages from Cooley alumni, expressing their appreciation for the opportunity to study law and to fulfill their dreams of becoming members of the bar.
Rereading those letters from time to time is an exercise in bolstering my self image.
More importantly, those letters validate the mission I envisioned for the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Over and over again, they speak of opportunity afforded, doors opened, chances given. Over and over they recount the sacrifices of men and women who had to work to pay for their legal education, mature people who gave up secure employment and moved long distances to Lansing, determined students who refused to be discouraged by the rejection of other law schools or by disappointing admissions test scores.
In letter after letter the demanding academic program is described; how it was lamented in student days and appreciated after graduation. Many told of blossoming self confidence, personal growth, broadened horizons, new and bold aspirations all attributed to the Cooley experience.
And the letterheads afford stark proof of their successes. Named partners in law firms, trial and appellate judges, prosecuting attorneys, corporate executives; they have done well for themselves and reflected honorably on their alma mater.
Perhaps most heartwarming are the expressions of personal and professional values which pepper the pages of those two treasured volumes. These Cooley graduates are good people, decent people, honorable people. I respect and admire them.
I’ll end these writings with a story.
Some years ago, I was walking through the concourse of the Newark airport when a young man stopped me. He was returning from a vacation with his wife and two-year-old son. He was a Cooley graduate who told me that he had a fine position in New York State government. He introduced me to his wife, and to his little boy, telling the lad that I was the man who had helped his daddy to become a lawyer. As we parted, the little fellow looked up at me, and in the most endearing baby talk said, “Goodbye. I wove you.”
I have felt that message many times in my life. To be loved is an inestimable gift, which is only enjoyed when it is returned. And so it is.
Thomas Brennan was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 1953, and practiced law in Detroit for nine years. He was elected to the Detroit Common Pleas Court in 1961, advancing to the Wayne County Circuit Court and finally to the Michigan Supreme Court, where he served as chief justice in 1969 and 1970. In 1972, Brennan founded the Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
©Thomas E. Brennan
