Why did Kerry go to BC?
09erDuring the 2004 presidential election, University of Wisconsin Law School Professor Ann Althouse inquired about Senator John Kerry’s intelligence based on the fact that he attended Boston College Law School.
I’ve been wondering why Kerry went to Boston College Law School. Since he was rich, it can’t have been the lure of a free ride. You would think, with his anti-war activism, he would have been a very attractive candidate for admission to Harvard (or another top-ranked law school) if only his LSAT and GPA were at all within range. No offense to Boston College, of course. I think it’s similar to attending my school, the University of Wisconsin Law School. And the point is, he had an extremely admirable personal story and record of activism, as well as the ability to pay his way, so he could have gotten into Boston College with numbers well below those of the average students.
Now, Thomas Lipscomb at the Huffington Post takes his shot at BC Law four years late in an attempt to offer meaningful commentary on the current presidential election.
Why had a Boston snob like John Kerry gone to a subway law school like Boston College? A source who had been on the Harvard Law School admissions board revealed that with Kerry’s bad military record he was turned down for admission though clearly qualified because they didn’t want to admit someone who they thought would be unable to pass the bar.
Specifically, Lipscomb infers that there were concerns that Kerry would be unable to pass the character and fitness requirement of the bar.
[A] former Secretary of the Navy told me that Kerry had asked him to expunge the disciplinary action the Navy had taken against him for what the Navy regarded as treasonous activities supporting the enemy in a time of war so he could be admitted to a law school and get on with his career. The Secretary refused. So it appears that Kerry went to Father Drinan, the former dean of the Boston College Law School. Kerry had decided not to run against Drinan for an open Congressional seat Drinan then occupied. Kerry asked him for help. The disciplinary action disappeared from Kerry’s official records with the general Jimmy Carter amnesty for Vietnam veterans with bad service records, the first bill Carter initiated after his inauguration.
Reader Comments (2)
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/01/24/kerry-yale-bc-law-to-drop-out-of-2008-race/
Kerry's answer, for what it's worth, to your post's question: “‘I had already taken all the law boards,’ Kerry recalled. ‘So I applied to Harvard, Boston University, and Boston College. I was extremely late. Only BC would entertain a late application.’”
Althouse addressed this answer that originally appeared in the Washington Post:
"ANOTHER UPDATE: A reader (who wasn't happy with my acknowledgment of the hierarchy in the prestige of law schools) referred me to this biographical article about John Kerry that appeared in the Washington Post last week. It gives an explanation for why Kerry went to law school at Boston College. Kerry ran for Congress in the Fall of 1972, when he seemed to be a fast-track golden boy. He was devastated by defeat and:
The law became Kerry's Plan B. The Yale graduate wanted to return there to law school but could not because his wife, Julia, was expecting a baby. His next choice was Harvard, then Boston University, but he applied too late. Boston College offered the opposite of Yale's theoretical approach -- it was famous as a training ground for politicians -- but BC had an opening, and Kerry took it.
So he couldn't go to Yale because Julia was pregnant, but he couldn't go to Harvard because he was late in applying. How do you figure that? Also, one loses a Congressional election in November. That leaves a good two months to apply to any law school. The article describes Kerry as quite devastated by his election loss, and that may have hampered the application process. Schools do have different deadlines (though not before January). [MORE: The dates for taking the LSAT would also be a factor.]"
For additional responses to this post, check out Legal Blog Watch: http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2008/06/rehashing-kerry.html