By Jesse Stellato
March 11, 2008

Click to enlargeNEWTON, MA — On January 24, Dean of Boston College Law School John Garvey issued a press release dated January 23, 2008 confirming the acceptance of Attorney General Michael Mukasey to speak at the school’s 2008 commencement ceremony.

“I cannot imagine a better role model for the Class of 2008,” Garvey said of the Attorney General.

By March 5, however, the praise had been withdrawn: Garvey’s “role model” language was removed from the press release, and all references to the original version on the law school’s website were deleted as well.

But in a reversal of a reversal, the “role model” language was retored on March 11.

Asked to comment on the original removal of the praise, law school spokesman Nate Kenyon stated in an email that “removing part of Dean Garvey’s quote was a decision I made as director of marketing and communications.”

“In doing so, I was trying to be sensitive to those members of the community who were upset by the idea of the Attorney General as a role model,” he continued.

“I felt it was important for us to respect all viewpoints and opinions,” Kenyon concluded.

In the intervening period between January 23 and March 5, pressure had mounted on Garvey to respond publicly to an increasingly vocal number of students, faculty and alumni who opposed the invitation of Attorney General Michael Mukasey to speak at the Boston College Law School 2008 commencement ceremony.

Opposition to the use of the “role model” language in particular was stressed by students, alumni and faculty.

On March 11, after Eagleionline inquired about the change, the original version of the press release was restored.

All three versions of the press release appear below in their entirety.

***

The first version of the Press Release, dated January 23, 2008, was posted on the Boston College Law School website on January 24, 2008.

2008 Commencement Speaker: Michael Mukasey [as of January 24, 2008]

1/23/08—Boston College Law School is pleased to announce that U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has accepted the School’s invitation to speak at the 2008 Law School Commencement, to be held on May 23. 

“It is a singular honor for Boston College to have the Attorney General of the United States as our commencement speaker,” said BC Law Dean John Garvey. “Michael Mukasey has had an unusually distinguished career.  Before becoming Attorney General he served the United States as chief judge of the most important district court in the nation.  He practiced law for 20 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and in one of New York City’s premier firms.  He is the recipient of the Federal Bar Council’s Learned Hand Medal.  I cannot imagine a better role model for the Class of 2008.” [Emphasis and highlighting added.]

Michael Mukasey was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1941 and graduated from Columbia College and Yale Law School, where he was on the Board of Editors of the Yale Law Journal. Prior to becoming Attorney General, he had a lengthy career as an attorney, including service as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1972 to 1976 in New York. From 1975 to 1976 he also served as chief of his district’s Official Corruption Unit. From 1976 to 1987 he was an associate, and then member, of the firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler.

Mukasey was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and served until 2006, the last six years as chief judge. During that time, Judge Mukasey presided over hundreds of cases, including the trial of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 co-defendants charged with conspiring to blow up numerous sites in New York. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he was widely praised for the speed with which the federal courthouse, located just blocks from the site of the World Trade Center, returned to normal operation.

Upon his retirement from the bench, Mukasey returned to Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, in the firm’s litigation group.

Judge Mukasey has received numerous awards over the years, including the Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence from the Federal Bar Council, the William Tendy Award from the Fiske Association, awards from the Seymour Association, the Respect for Law Alliance, and the Ari Halberstam Award from the Jewish Children’s Museum. He also received an honorary degree from the Brooklyn Law School.

Mukasey’s professional and civic activities have included service as a director of the William Nelson Cromwell Foundation and as a director of the Jewish Children’s Museum. He has also been a lecturer in law at the Columbia Law School. He was a member of the Automation and Technology Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States; was chairman of the Committee on Public Access to Information and Proceedings of the New York State Bar Association; was a member of the Federal Courts Committee and the Communications Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; and was a member of the American Bar Association.

Judge Mukasey was nominated to be Attorney General by President George W. Bush on September 17, 2007, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 8. He entered duty on November 9.

He and his wife, Susan, have two grown children, Marc and Jessica, and two grandsons.  

***

The second version of the Press Release appears to have been updated on or before March 5, 2008.

2008 Commencement Speaker: Michael Mukasey [as of March 5, 2008]

1/23/08—Boston College Law School is pleased to announce that U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has accepted the School’s invitation to speak at the 2008 Law School Commencement, to be held on May 23. 

“It is a singular honor for Boston College to have the Attorney General of the United States as our commencement speaker,” said BC Law Dean John Garvey. “Michael Mukasey has had an unusually distinguished career.  Before becoming Attorney General he served the United States as chief judge of the most important district court in the nation.  He practiced law for 20 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and in one of New York City’s premier firms.  He is the recipient of the Federal Bar Council’s Learned Hand Medal.”

Michael Mukasey was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1941 and graduated from Columbia College and Yale Law School, where he was on the Board of Editors of the Yale Law Journal. Prior to becoming Attorney General, he had a lengthy career as an attorney, including service as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1972 to 1976 in New York. From 1975 to 1976 he also served as chief of his district’s Official Corruption Unit. From 1976 to 1987 he was an associate, and then member, of the firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler.

Mukasey was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and served until 2006, the last six years as chief judge. During that time, Judge Mukasey presided over hundreds of cases, including the trial of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 co-defendants charged with conspiring to blow up numerous sites in New York. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he was widely praised for the speed with which the federal courthouse, located just blocks from the site of the World Trade Center, returned to normal operation.

Upon his retirement from the bench, Mukasey returned to Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, in the firm’s litigation group.

Judge Mukasey has received numerous awards over the years, including the Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence from the Federal Bar Council, the William Tendy Award from the Fiske Association, awards from the Seymour Association, the Respect for Law Alliance, and the Ari Halberstam Award from the Jewish Children’s Museum. He also received an honorary degree from the Brooklyn Law School.

Mukasey’s professional and civic activities have included service as a director of the William Nelson Cromwell Foundation and as a director of the Jewish Children’s Museum. He has also been a lecturer in law at the Columbia Law School. He was a member of the Automation and Technology Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States; was chairman of the Committee on Public Access to Information and Proceedings of the New York State Bar Association; was a member of the Federal Courts Committee and the Communications Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; and was a member of the American Bar Association.

Judge Mukasey was nominated to be Attorney General by President George W. Bush on September 17, 2007, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 8. He entered duty on November 9.

He and his wife, Susan, have two grown children, Marc and Jessica, and two grandsons.

***

The third version of press release appeared on the Boston College Law School website on March 11, 2008, after Eagleionline enquired into the change. The third version is a restoration of the first.

2008 Commencement Speaker: Michael Mukasey [as of March 11, 2008]

1/23/08—Boston College Law School is pleased to announce that U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has accepted the School’s invitation to speak at the 2008 Law School Commencement, to be held on May 23. 

“It is a singular honor for Boston College to have the Attorney General of the United States as our commencement speaker,” said BC Law Dean John Garvey. “Michael Mukasey has had an unusually distinguished career.  Before becoming Attorney General he served the United States as chief judge of the most important district court in the nation.  He practiced law for 20 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and in one of New York City’s premier firms.  He is the recipient of the Federal Bar Council’s Learned Hand Medal. I cannot imagine a better role model for the Class of 2008.” [Emphasis and highlighting added.]

Michael Mukasey was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1941 and graduated from Columbia College and Yale Law School, where he was on the Board of Editors of the Yale Law Journal. Prior to becoming Attorney General, he had a lengthy career as an attorney, including service as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1972 to 1976 in New York. From 1975 to 1976 he also served as chief of his district’s Official Corruption Unit. From 1976 to 1987 he was an associate, and then member, of the firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler.

Mukasey was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and served until 2006, the last six years as chief judge. During that time, Judge Mukasey presided over hundreds of cases, including the trial of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 co-defendants charged with conspiring to blow up numerous sites in New York. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he was widely praised for the speed with which the federal courthouse, located just blocks from the site of the World Trade Center, returned to normal operation.

Upon his retirement from the bench, Mukasey returned to Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, in the firm’s litigation group.

Judge Mukasey has received numerous awards over the years, including the Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence from the Federal Bar Council, the William Tendy Award from the Fiske Association, awards from the Seymour Association, the Respect for Law Alliance, and the Ari Halberstam Award from the Jewish Children’s Museum. He also received an honorary degree from the Brooklyn Law School.

Mukasey’s professional and civic activities have included service as a director of the William Nelson Cromwell Foundation and as a director of the Jewish Children’s Museum. He has also been a lecturer in law at the Columbia Law School. He was a member of the Automation and Technology Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States; was chairman of the Committee on Public Access to Information and Proceedings of the New York State Bar Association; was a member of the Federal Courts Committee and the Communications Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; and was a member of the American Bar Association.

Judge Mukasey was nominated to be Attorney General by President George W. Bush on September 17, 2007, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 8. He entered duty on November 9.

He and his wife, Susan, have two grown children, Marc and Jessica, and two grandsons.