One of BC Law School’s more lighthearted traditions is Professor Robert Bloom’s Ugly Sweater Competition, conducted to add levity as 1L students face down their first finals. The event is now in its fourth year in a row—yes, Bloom managed to hold it remotely in fall 2020, when delivering his lectures on Zoom.
Students come dressed in their worst to Bloom’s last class of the semester in Civil Procedure, which is usually their first exam. “I do it to ease the tension because the students are worried about exams,” says Bloom.
Second-year students pick the winners. In the past, students decked out in sweaters with Bloom’s visage have won first prize, but this year was different; Kim Berndt, Kate Miller, and Lily Dales took home third. Emily Masse, with her sparkly, flamingo-feathered sweater took second place, and Jake Burkhead, wearing a phanstasmagorical flying Santa pig top, won first prize.
Prizes were supplied by Bloom and were an amalgam of legal articles and books, including one on Thurgood Marshall, plus a $25 gift certificate to Sullivan’s snack bar in South Boston, a Time magazine with alum John Kerry on the cover, a Scrabble game, and some mystery novels.
The best part of all, says Bloom, is that the contest helps build community. By the look of things December 2, it also brightens a lot of faces on the last day of class.
