Letter from the Dean

Dear Weldon Times Readers,

Who better to pen a few words on a theme about the past than a dean whose history with this law school dates back to the 1980s? I’m always shocked to learn that fashions from the 80s and 90s are retro. Personally, I can’t imagine returning to padded shoulders and puffy hair. Aside from fashion – a subject on which no one would trust me – but in line with the theme of looking back, readers might be interested to know what the law school was like in the 1980s.

In many ways, it was similar. We were located in the same building, minus the library wing, and much of the curriculum was the same. Most memorably, the underlying spirit of collegiality and support was strong. But there was one way it was radically different: it fundamentally lacked diversity. 

Professor Hadskis and I were recently talking about our class (yes, we were both graduates of the class of ’89) and remarking on how little diversity there was. The slow but imperative shift to a more diverse law school population – made up of faculty, students, and staff – is a critically important change that also brought with it a more responsive, interesting, culturally-grounded, and expansive curriculum. I’m proud that we here at the Schulich School of Law are typically at the forefront of these changes while recognizing there is always more work ahead.

Some of you may know that this law school is the oldest university-based common law school in the country. With a rich and deep history dating back to 1883, our challenge, as a community, is to look back and draw the best from that history (like the Weldon Tradition) while nimbly and effectively focusing on change. We rely on our past and the valuable contributions of our community for stability, but we look to the future for inspiration and meaning. More broadly, in the study of law we hold fast to age-old foundational concepts like the rule of law while recognizing that we need new tools and perspectives to ensure its survival and relevance. The common law with its case-based structure is always toggling back and forth between the past and the present. Precedent and progress work hand-in-hand. 

I applaud The Weldon Times for picking a theme that is about both looking back and the cyclical or sometimes iterative nature of change. It’s a theme that can be both uncomfortable and stabilizing, and it’s in the tension between these two reactions where good learning happens.

Welcome back,

Sarah