Shortly after Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death last September, Janice Campbell ’74 wrote to BC Law School Dean Vincent Rougeau with a reminiscence and an inquiry. In 1973-1974, Campbell was among a group of female third-year students who wanted a Women and the Law course. A professor agreed to sponsor the course if they would research and teach it. They did so for a semester. One of the guest lecturers was Ginsburg, then the ACLU’s general counsel, who discussed a casebook she was writing on women in the law, Campbell said.
In retrospect, the course was historic not only for Ginsburg’s appearance, but also because it was on the cusp of a trend sweeping the country—Campbell’s class entered BC Law in 1971, the year that the number of women enrolled jumped from fifteen to fifty. “The Law School was amazing, friendly, and accommodating,” Campbell wrote, “even for those of us with young children.”
Four of the course organizers who had been meeting on Zoom during the pandemic began trying to recall who was in the Women and the Law class when Ginsburg spoke. Campbell emailed the dean to ask where they might turn for answers. “If we knew, we might try to all get together to remember Justice Ginsburg,” and to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the “extraordinary increase” of women students at BC Law, she said.
In response, the Law School is inviting anyone who was part of that memorable moment to contact Kelsey Brogna, associate director of alumni class and school engagement, at kelsey.brogna@bc.edu or 617-552-8524.