Rebels with a Cause: How Students Got Into Governance

In 1972, Bob Haley ’75 and his classmates were upset. There would be a tuition increase for the next academic year, and there was no information about how that came to pass. Haley recalls: “We were an older group, which included a lot of military vets, anti-war protesters, and conscientious objectors. Steve Tubbs ’75, now deceased, and Jan Wyers ’75, and I were the major troublemakers, but there were a number of students that thought it was not right to raise tuition without consulting us.”

Haley says they asked the administration, under then-dean Fred Fagg, to allow student representatives in future faculty meetings. “Dean Fagg said no. No was not the answer we wanted.” They printed an article in the student newspaper—also begun by Haley’s class—announcing their appointment of Haley as the student representative. He was kicked out of the first faculty meeting he tried to attend.

Soon after, the administration changed their minds, agreeing to allow one day and one night student representative, and arranged for an election. Of three candidates, Haley won by a single vote: “The vote was 15, 15, and 16. I attended faculty meetings for the remainder of the year.”

Today, there is a law student representative for every committee at the law school, from budget to curriculum.

When she joined the law school, dean Alicia Ouellette was impressed to find this much engagement by students. “It is especially important when we have to make difficult choices about limited resources. Input from students, as well as their important task of reporting back to their student body, are critical for a well-functioning law school.”

That wasn’t the last the school heard from Haley’s class. They also advocated for a law school graduation ceremony, which continues to this day. “We quickly organized a boycott and insisted on our own separate graduation ceremony.” They got it, and the rest is history.