From the foreword: The school year of 1948–1949 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Dean Emeritus Thomas F. Konop\u27s professorship at Notre Dame. Mr. Aaron Huguenard, prominent South Bend attorney, long a friend and formerly a teaching colleague of Dean Konop, writes an appreciation of the Dean and his work both at Notre Dame an in his other endeavors

Huguenard, Aaron H.

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Dean Konop: A Quarter of a Century at Notre Dame

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Notre Dame Law ReviewVolume 24 | Issue 2 Article 12-1-1949Dean Konop: A Quarter of a Century at NotreDameAaron H. HuguenardFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlrPart of the Law CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Law Review by anauthorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact lawdr@nd.edu.Recommended CitationAaron H. Huguenard, Dean Konop: A Quarter of a Century at Notre Dame, 24 Notre Dame L. Rev. 145 (1949).Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol24/iss2/1NOTRE DAMELAWYERA Quarterly Law ReviewVOL. XXIV WINTER, 1949 No. 2DEAN KONOP: A QUARTER OF A CENTURYAT NOTRE DAMEThe school year of 1948-49 marks the twenty-fifth anni-versary of Dean Emeritus Thomas F. Konop's professorshipat Notre Dame. In commemoration of his long and loyal ser-vice to the University, the College of Law, the profession, thealumni, and in particular to the students of the college and toTHE NoTm DAntE LAWYER, THlE LAWYER has asked Mr.Aaron Huguenard, prominent South Bend attorney, long afriend and formerly a teaching colleague of Dean Konop, towrite an appreciation of the Dean and his work both at NotreDame and in his other endeavors.-EDITOR.Notre Dame lawyers residing in South Bend are mostfortunate in the opportunity of knowing and living withmen who are on the faculty of the Notre Dame Law School.This privilege is not always appreciated until we travel afarand meet old classmates who avidly devour all news of theiralma mater and who especially crave with unfeigned nostalgiadetailed information about their old law professors. Com-parisons sometimes lead to needless offense but I am surethat none of Dean Konop's fellow teachers will be resentfulwhen I record that during my wanderings over many yearsalways and everywhere Notre Dame lawyers have in particu-lar inquired solicitously about his health and well-being.This is as it should be.Many men will reach three score years and ten; many willaccumulate more worldly wealth than Dean Konop has. OfNOTRE DAME LAWYERcourse there will be for most men families and all the prob-lems of raising children. Some men will achieve the honor ofhigh office; others will become prominent lawyers. For stillothers there will be the rarefied atmosphere of great scholar-ship. But in the decathlon event of life's Olympic gamesthere will be few records equal to Dean Konop's.Perhaps the success of a family is accidental. I don'tthink so. And while I would be the last to deprive Mrs.Konop of the credit which is a mother's due, I think in thelitany of the Dean's virtues there should be first mentionedthe monument which is forever evidence in three fine sonsand a lovely daughter. Refined, courteous, good, able chil-dren just do not happen. They are only the product of livingand forever sacrificing parents, father as well as mother.Dean Konop has always had a profound and abiding lovefor his fellow men. His interest has never been the super-ficial pattern of the professional greeter. It is somethingreal and extremely sincere. No one ever talked to the Deanwithout knowing a deep sympathy. No one's appeal for aidhas ever been refused.His sense of humor is delightful. His skill at narrating thehumorous episode makes men hang on his lips. His recollec-tion of things past is amazing. And the twinkle that comesinto his eyes when he dips in the reservoir of a rich and activelife to illustrate a point is positively magnetic.Many able lawyers feel that they cannot afford to give oftheir time for the good of society. Not so with the Dean.Although the children were small and Washington was ex-pensive and a law practice had to be suspended, the Deanspent six years as a congressman. They were active yearswhen momentous legislation was enacted. They includedthe four years of Wilson's first term.There was much controversy over our early workmen'scompensation laws. Socialism was taking over the govern-ment, so the opposition said. Strong men were needed to ad-A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AT NOTRE DAME 147minister such experimental and radical statutes. And DeanKonop again left his law practice to serve the state and so-ciety. For five years he was a member of the Wisconsin In-dustrial Commission.In between times, the Dean was a trustee of his homestate's Board of Vocational Education and a trustee of StoutInstitute. We pass hurriedly over numerous clubs and so-cieties in which he was constantly giving of himself.And then, after twenty-five years of practicing law andlaw making and law administration, the Dean came to NotreDame to assume his greatest assignment, the responsibilityof administering the law school. A quarter of a century,looking ahead, seems a long time; but I know that lookingbackward, the years between 1923 and 1941 in particularsped by for the Dean. They were busy years, years of actionand achievement and anxiety for the success of young menambitious to succeed in the law. They were the years whichsaw Notre Dame meet the standards of the Association ofAmerican Law Schools; which saw THE NOTRE DAME LAW-YER born and grow to an outstanding legal periodical; whichsaw the faculty increase and the student enrollment double;which saw the present building of the law school built; whichsaw the education and graduation of hundreds of successfulNotre Dame lawyers. While the Dean retired from the ac-tive administration of the law school in 1941, being succeed-ed by Clarence Manion, the present Dean, he stayed on asDean Emeritus and Professor of Law, and his inspirationand learning have continued to influence the law school, itsstudents, and its professors.I might dilate at length on the Dean's virtues as an admin-istrator; on his tact in handling men and teachers; on hislearning in the law and his excellence as a lecturer. But suchthings go without saying. I prefer rather to emphasize theextremely rare gift which the Dean possesses: the gift of im-parting to young men an appreciation of the fact that they148 NOTRE DAME LAWYERare going to follow a noble and a dignified profession. Thereare many men who do not appreciate the importance of theirvocation in a democratic society. Those men did not pro-cure their education in the halls where Dean Konop has solong held forth.The Dean's countless friends hasten to congratulate himon the completion of his twenty-five years of great serviceat Nctre Dame and wish him and Mrs. Konop many longand happy years.Aaron H. Huguenard.

Notre Dame Law SchoolNDLScholarship1923–1941: Thomas F. Konop Law School DeansWinter 1949Dean Konop: A Quarter of a Century at NotreDameAaron H. HuguenardFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/tfkonopPart of the Law CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Deans at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in 1923–1941:Thomas F. Konop by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact lawdr@nd.edu.Recommended CitationAaron H. Huguenard, Dean Konop: A Quarter of a Century at Notre Dame, 24 Notre Dame Lawyer 145–148 (1949).Fall 200418Imagine having been at Notre Dame when it enrolled its fi rst freshman class of 1,000. Imagine listening to radio broadcasts of the 1924 Democratic Convention with professors and priests in one of the cornfi elds that surrounded the campus. Imagine being at Notre Dame for the legendary Notre Dame-Ohio State football game of 1935, which Notre Dame won, 18-13. Imagine having Knute Rockne as your track coach. And imagine being a member of the Law School class of 1931, the fi rst to graduate from the present Law School building.Now imagine having the opportunity to share the memories and stories you have of all these experiences at Notre Dame with Dean Patricia O’Hara, whose offi ce is the same offi ce that was your father’s, Thomas Konop, when he was Dean of the Law School from 1923 until 1941.Such is the experience of Kenneth Konop ’29, ’31 J.D., who is possibly the Law School’s oldest living alumnus. In many ways, Mr. Konop serves as a bridge between the past and the future of the law school, a bridge embodied by the present Law School building, designed and completed under the direction of Mr. Konop’s father, Law School Dean Thomas Konop. On June 8, 2004, Dean Patricia O’Hara, Director of Law School Advancement Glenn Rosswurm, and Director of External Relations Carol Jambor-Smith traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, to meet, speak, and reminisce with Mr. Konop, a visit prompted by the congratulatory letter he sent to Dean O’Hara upon her appointment as the Law School’s ninth dean. Mr. Konop is a gracious host who lives independently and who admits to enjoying a glass of wine every day. He clearly relished the opportunity to share his Notre Dame stories.The majority of Mr. Konop’s legal career was spent at AT&T, beginning with work for Indiana Bell in Indianapolis. With a twinkle in his eye, he said he worked for 38 years and has been retired for 35 years: “I guess I’ve benefi ted from their retirement plan!”  Early in his career, he worked 44-hour weeks, including Saturday mornings, for $30 a week. When the mandatory Saturday time was dropped, his salary was cut by $2.50 a week. His work took him from Indianapolis to Cleveland, Ohio, to Kansas City, Missouri, and involved buying land rights for the company’s open wire lines. For a few years following his retirement from AT&T, Mr. Konop practiced aviation and admiralty law in Kansas City.The stories he told were many and varied. He revealed some information about the fi rst Dean of the Law School, Colonel Hoynes, about whom not much is known. “I remember old Hoynes,” he said. Evidently, both the Colonel and Dean Konop were wine afi cionados, diffi cult in the days of Prohibition. The two men would drive out to Cleveland Road in a buggy and buy jugs of wine from a bootlegger, the Colonel allegedly purchasing the larger, three-gallon jug. Colonel Hoynes lived on the main fl oor of the Main Building and ate with “high-toned priests.” Mr. Konop remembers a time when the Colonel had to be pulled away from such a meal to attend a banquet that was being held in honor of the Law School.Because Dean Konop had had an illustrious political career before his academic career, Mr. Konop had wonderful stories to tell about the political events he remembered. Dean Konop won his 1910 congressional race by 10 votes, a victory that was certifi ed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In part because his district included two Indian reservations, Dean Konop eventually became Chair of the Congressional Committee , .. Early in his career, he worked 44-hour weeks, including Saturday mornings, for $30 a week. When the mandatory Saturday time was dropped, his salary was cut by $2.50 a week.   :    19on Indian Affairs and received occasional Washington, D.C. visits from members of the Oneida and Menomenee tribes, who would sleep on the living room fl oor of the Konops’ home. The Congressman took his young fi ve-year-old son to the White House to say goodbye to President Taft at the end of the President’s term. Mr. Konop remembers being lifted by Taft, a “huge man,” and placed in the big, black chair that sat behind the presidential desk. While he was dean, Thomas Konop brought many changes to the Law School. During his tenure, the Law School was admitted to the American Association of Law Schools and accredited by the American Bar Association. He increased the academic requirements for admission to the Law School twice: in 1925, requiring a high school diploma plus two years of college work and in 1928, increasing the requirement to three years of college work. Under Dean Konop, the fi rst issue of the  Lawyer was published in 1925, the size of the faculty was increased, and the curriculum was expanded to include elective course work. The most visible accomplishment of Dean Konop was the construction of the present Law School building, which was completed in 1930. Mr. Konop believes the building cost $400,000 and took one year to complete; he also remembers that an attorney from Fort Wayne, Indiana, provided the lead gift. Archbishop Patrick Joseph Cardinal Hayes of New York traveled to South Bend to participate in the building’s dedication.Mr. Konop’s days at Notre Dame, in many ways, seem far removed from 2004: buggies with runners were used for transportation; cornfi elds surrounded the campus; a round-trip train ride to a football game against Minnesota cost $14.25, including the price of a ticket; legends like Rockne and the Four Horsemen were on campus. The Law School was quieter, with “fi ve or six” professors, one part-time student assistant who worked for the dean, and a class with 115 members (only 44 of whom graduated). But the study and aspirations of those people echo in the same halls as the study and aspirations of today’s Law School faculty, staff, and students. The vision of Dean Konop for the Law School has carried through the intervening years to merge with the visions of Dean O’Hara for a new, larger Law School building that will meet today’s demands of a legal education. We all look forward to greeting Mr. Konop on his 75th Reunion, which we are confi dent he will attend in 2006.Mr. Konop’s days at Notre Dame, in many ways, seem far removed from 2004: buggies with runners were used for transportation; cornfi elds surrounded the campus; a round-trip train ride to a football game against Minnesota cost $14.25, including the price of a ticket.Clockwise from left: Dean Thomas, William, Phillip, and Kenneth Konop.Dean Patricia O’Hara and Kenneth Konop.

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Dean Konop: A Quarter of a Century at Notre Dame

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