Expecting a generation gap, law student Frederick S. Vondy feels nostalgic--and inspired

Vondy, Frederick S.

English

Digital Commons @ UM Law

ANEW Eighteen years passed between my undergraduate degree from Columbia U niversity and my initi-ation at the U niversity of Matyland School of Law. Mos t of that time was spent as a journalist, and if there was any constant message that the news media sent out during this period , it was that the current generation of students had become selfi sh, mercenary and cynical. So I entered law school expecting to find a "gen-eration gap" that was the inverse of the one I had grown up with . Instead, I was stunned to find that the hearts and aspirations of 1990s students we re not that diffe rent from what I saw twO decades ago. Let me narrow my holding a bit, because there is a di fference. T here is m o re pragmati sm today. Twenty years ago, students wanted to change the wo rld overnight. While there is still a desire to make the wo rld a better place, it is recognized that change that comes eas ily or quickly is rarely change for the better. Perhaps the pragmatism is the result of the prob-lems being closer to home. M os t significantly, when I was in college, there was still a South Vietn am, with Am eri cans of my age under arms. But the fighting in Southeast Asia came no closer to most of us than the picture on the television set-and even tha t was often ove rsh adowed by the Viern am-inspired violence outside our campus windows. In contrast, the problems that occupy the minds of my current classmates are ones th at they know firsthand. T heir concerns are manifest in class and out of class, often through law school-based organi-zations or activities. But where their feelings really come to the fore are in conversations over a cup of coffee, or over a beer, or in the hal l between cl ass-es-and over time, it's fascinating to see how legal educa ti o n is influencin g their v iews a nd the ir approaches to the problems. We used to live under th e gloom o f poss ible destruction by nuclear warfa re; today's major fea rs of destruction are inspired by AIDS. I doubt that there's anybody in the law schoo l who has no t known a person who has died, or is dying, from this JD MAGAZINE SPRI NG 1994 Social Conscience B Y FREDER I CK S. VON D Y Whatever kind of law one chooses to practice, it IS almost by definition In the public interest. plague, and its repercussions draw many students into the Law and H eal th Care Program. T he explosion in the number of homeless people in this country is another problem that couldn ' t have been imagined 20 years ago. N ow, you can scarcely go three blocks in any direction from the law schoo l withour encountering somebody with a cardboard sign, a plastic cup-and often a child in a stroller. To deal with this, fo od drives are organized on campus, as are neighborhood help programs. O ne of the fi rst students I m et in my Legal M ethod section was drawn to the U niversity of M aryland because of its environmental law pro-gram. Another cam e to law school because he wants to maintain a family tradition in the public defend-er's offi ce; his counterpart is a student who wants to be a prosecuror-a field that isn' t generally called "public interest" law but that should be, as it also aims at remedying social problems. But m any of us come to law school with th e hope of practicing in the most overlooked field of "public interest" law. We want to make the sys tem work effici ently and compassionately for people facing divorces or bankruptcy, for people who want to starr businesses or stay out of trouble with the IRS, fo r people dealing with the death of a near relative or facing a problem at the workplace. W hatever kind of law one chooses to practice, it is almost by definition in the public interest. I'm impressed and inspired by my fellow stu-dents. Lawyers and the students today have gotten a lo t of bad press, bur the fact is that I found more self-servers and opportunists in the news media than I'm encountering am ong law students. The study of law is proving to be an exhilarating experience, and no small part of it comes from being exposed to the dedication of the students. All the evidence shows that public interest law, no matter how it is defin ed, is alive and thriving. Frederick S. Vondy is a second-yea r law student. 

A New Social Conscience

NELLCO Consortium Legal Scholarship Repository

https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1196&amp;context=jd

A New Social Conscience

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