Part of BYU Law’s 50-Year Story Is Giving Young Lawyers Courage To Be Religious in Their Profession
On the very first day the law was taught at Brigham Young University in 1973, a professor stood up and said the law is not like a great pitcher of water you drink in law school.
No, the law is like the Atlantic Ocean, and law school teaches you how to navigate that ocean, the professor said, according to Elder Wilford W. Andersen, a member of BYU Law’s charter class and an emeritus General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
For Elder Andersen and many others, BYU Law’s uniqueness is how its professors teach law students to navigate the legal ocean with a rudder constructed from religious faith.
My favorite part of publishing a piece this week about how President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, and Rex Lee launched BYU Law School 50 years ago was sitting down with President Oaks in his office and listening to him tell the story of how he told a church leader that starting a law school was a bad idea.
President Oaks also talked about how he came to see divine guidance in the decision. That is, of course, reflected in the story. But I want to share one piece that got left on the cutting room floor, from the man who is leading the BYU Law School into the second half of its first century.
To set it up quickly, Elder Andersen said in the story that BYU’s first law professors — President Oaks, Lee, Carl Hawkins, Ed Kimball — came from top law schools like Chicago, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and exemplified a commitment to the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ.
From them, Elder Andersen said, “we knew that we could practice law and we could be successful without forfeiting any of our personal convictions and commitments to the gospel.”
That ethic, embedded in the law school from the first day 50 years ago, remains part of the formula in Year 51.
In fact, it is a quality that BYU Law’s new dean, David Moore, told the Deseret News’ Hal Boyd he wants to share with students.
“I think some of what I bring, too, is the experience of having worked in lots of professional settings and being true to who I am,” Moore said. “So, some may be afraid to show their faith, or maybe some might be unsure or uncertain about how to navigate professional circles as a person of faith. I think maybe one of the things that I offer is experience doing that and understanding that you can be yourself. You can be who you are. You can be true to your faith, and people generally appreciate that.
“You can be a talented professional who connects with others and understands dynamics in a professional environment while being absolutely who you are in terms of your commitments to the gospel and the covenants you’ve made. Again, I feel like people generally welcome that. I’ve had colleagues who are friends from over the years who respect that. We’re different, but we we love each other.”
