As the sun sets on our Day of Caring and Giving, we thank you for hearing and sharing messages for and about our LSU Law family. We are incredibly grateful for the gifts you made today and for those you will make in the future. Your engagement and your giving are two of the many ways to show that the LSU Law Spirit shines through good times and bad.
One of the most consistent symbols of the LSU Law Spirt is our “Hats ‘n Canes” tradition. According to a 1930 issue of The Reveille, along with derbies, “walking canes are carried, flourished and brandished [as a] badge to distinguish law seniors.” Ninety years later, the tradition continues—without the “brandishing.”
Last spring, the Class of 1969 became Golden Grads and observed their 50-year reunion. Mary Olive Pierson, a 2020 LSU Law Distinguished Achievement award recipient, reflects upon her remarkable experience as a member of one of the first LSU Law classes with more than one or two female members.
“LSU Law School was, without a doubt, the absolute best and most rewarding experience of my life. It opened 50 years of doors for me and my friends pictured here,” she says. “None of us, nine or ten girls in all, even knew each other before that September day in 1966 when we descended on the Law School with about 200 other freshmen—all men. I observed then to my fellow travelers that it was a target-rich environment, if a husband was one of your goals!”
“In the three-and-a-half years that followed, we were taught how to think, how to see both sides of an issue and that there is no such thing as all black or all white—a necessary tool if persuasion to your view is essential. We formed lasting friendships with our new friends and we still get together for lunch occasionally each year and repeat, over and over, the same old and tired, but terrific stories of those years.”
“My 50 years as an attorney are the best (some would call them ‘colorful’) years anyone could possibly have, and the LSU law school gave them to me. By the way, in addition to the fabulous education we received, the target-rich environment mentioned earlier worked for everyone in the photo—except me of course, but I tried!”
We hope this day has helped you think about the common experience that connects us. The LSU Law Spirit doesn’t exist only when we’re in each other’s company and it isn’t deterred by quarantine. It’s infinite. It’s determined. It’s indefatigable.
The LSU Law Spirit lives in us!
P.S. It’s not too late.
Our Day of Caring and Giving page is accepting contributions until 10 p.m. If you haven’t already, please visit. Click on the photograph to hear a message from some of our extraordinary students and consider making a gift to the Law General Scholarship Fund or the Law Student Emergency Fund.
Thank you for your support of LSU Law and our incredible students!
