I Teach at Capital – Part 2

Here are three vignettes from my time teaching at Capital University Law School you might find interesting

A Possible Burglary

One of my closest friends and mentors at CULS was Josiah H. Blackmore, who later became Dean of the law school and then President of Capital University. In addition to the following, I will write much more about him in the future.

Faculty offices at CULS were far from opulent. Forming a perimeter along the walls of the Troutman Building, a converted car dealership, that housed administrative and faculty offices and the Law Library, the offices were small, providing space for a desk, a couple of chairs, and perhaps a bookcase and file cabinet. Joe's office was in the front part of the building.

Late one night during final exams, Joe received a call from campus security. It appeared, he was told, that his office had been ransacked. Papers and books were scattered everywhere, and the top of his desk had obviously been severely disturbed, since there appeared to be a random assortment of documents, mail (opened and unopened), and student papers. There was a concern his exam might be compromised.

Joe quickly got dressed and drove from his Worthington home to campus, where he met the security personnel and accompanied them to his office. When the door was opened, Joe surveyed the disorder. "Well," he said, "this is a little embarrassing, but it looks just like I left it this afternoon." Joe was not the most organized person on the planet!

Another One of Them

While most of my memories of CULS are pleasant, one event stands out as exactly the opposite, and permanently and negatively impacted my attitude toward two of my colleagues.

Almost every year the faculty had to act to either fill vacancies or hire new faculty as the law school expanded, particularly in the late 1970s and early 80's. The process involved the solicitation of applications through various means, an initial screening by a Faculty Recruitment Committee, interviews with some applicants, and, finally, extending offers to individuals we believed would be appropriate members of the faculty.

The faculty lounge at the law school was a simple room with a coffee pot and a few tables and chairs. A room divider of sorts contained the faculty mail boxes. One afternoon during the faculty recruitment period, I was checking my mailbox when I happened to overhear a conversation between two members of the faculty, who could not see me while they spoke.

The topic of their conversation was a potential faculty member who had been well-liked by the recruitment committee and who had impressed the faculty members who interviewed him during his visit to Capital. I overheard one of my colleagues say, "He would probably work out, but do we really want another Jew on this faculty. We have more than enough already." "Nope," replied the other, "we certainly do not need any more of them. Before long the pushy bastards will be trying to run the place."

I returned to my office, shocked by what I had heard. For most of my life, I had avoided having to confront the realities of anti-Semitism, and now, here it was, staring me in the face. Never again could I look at the two professors involved without a feeling of revulsion.

We did hire the gentleman they were concerned about. The faculty vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the hire – there were only two "no" votes.

Temperature Control

Most of my classes were taught in a lecture hall in a building on Capital's main campus called the Learning Center. I was constantly frustrated by my inability to control the temperature in the room, which was inevitably too hot or too cold. No matter how much I fiddled with the thermostat, the room was never comfortable.

One late afternoon after I had finished class, I was alone in the room trying, once more, to figure out the intricacies of the temperature adjustment instrument when a custodian came into the room. He said, "Professor, I really don't think you can do much with that thermostat." He came over to where I was twisting the dial, took hold of the demon device, and pulled. It came away from the wall, dangling wires that obviously had not been attached to anything at all.

"I think somebody just stuck that there to cover up a hole in the wall," he told me.