As I write, Montreal and the Â鶹AV campus are aglow with fall colours. Students finishing our flagship BCL/JD program on the popular 3.5-year timeline are on the home stretch. The energetic first-year cohort is settling into law school. And the upper-year students in between them are running Coffeehouses, journals, and dozens of student clubs – while also, we hope, learning some law.
We teach and learn under the roof of Chancellor Day Hall in a tumultuous time, one that has strained international law, the rule of law, and civility. A labour dispute between Â鶹AV and the law professors’ union delayed the start of many courses, giving students an up-close view of a legal regime in action. I welcomed my colleagues back to the faculty on 1 October and their classes got swiftly underway. This unprecedented start of term was difficult, in varying ways, for all students. Professors and the administration are collaborating to ensure that students finish their semester on time to our usual standards of excellence and that they will enjoy the full Â鶹AV Law experience for the rest of their academic journey with us.
Mon discours d’accueil à la nouvelle cohorte reflétait ce moment. J’ai consacré davantage de temps à mon appel habituel à la civilité, soulignant qu’il est normal que des opinions divergentes s’expriment entre camarades de classe. J’ai pressé chacun d’entendre l'autre partie, de consulter de multiples sources crédibles, et de s’efforcer de tenir compte du contexte et de l’histoire. J’ai confié que nous profiterons tous d’un meilleur environnement d’apprentissage en nous laissant la liberté d’exprimer un large éventail d’opinions, et l’espace de faire erreur. Et j’ai rappelé que la profession juridique, à laquelle le groupe aspire, requiert d’agir avec intégrité, respect, et modération.
I reminded students that much legal work, here and beyond, involves voicing a view not one’s own. I informed students that the Â鶹AV Faculty of Law rarely makes public statements on external matters. My role as dean includes defending a space in which faculty and students, individually and collectively, pursue truth, advance knowledge, and express themselves.
Les dĂ©fis que prĂ©sente le monde interconnectĂ© d’aujourd’hui rendent la formation juridique de Â鶹AV plus pertinente que jamais. Notre enseignement et notre Ă©tude du droit traversent les frontières, telles que celles entre les traditions juridiques, les langues, les disciplines, et celles de la gĂ©ographie. Nous mettons Ă contribution de multiples sources juridiques pour rĂ©pondre Ă des problèmes complexes, et pour gĂ©rer l’incertitude et le changement rapide. Notre corps professoral, notre personnel et notre communautĂ© Ă©tudiante apprennent ensemble et confrontent leurs idĂ©es dans un esprit communautaire inclusif et ouvert, oĂą priment la curiositĂ©, l’engagement et le courage. Les assises fondamentales du programme de droit Ă Â鶹AV prĂ©parent les membres de notre communautĂ© diplĂ´mĂ©e Ă travailler dans des secteurs en Ă©mergence et Ă assumer des rĂ´les de leadership dans un vaste Ă©ventail de domaines.
During Â鶹AV Homecoming, I caught up with alumni of many generations, including some having graduated 60 years ago. They told me where their legal education has taken them and shared with me their Â鶹AV Law stories, in some cases emphasizing the bonds created by surmounting challenges in the company of their classmates. I hope our paths cross soon, in Chancellor Day Hall or elsewhere – and that you will tell me your story.
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Robert Leckey, Ad E, BCL'02, LLB'02Ěý
Dean and Samuel Gale Professor of Law
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