Kaus, Otto M.

Lower, Frederick J.

Tevis, Lloyd

Vachon, Richard A.

Loyola Marymount University

Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law SchoolDigital Commons at Loyola MarymountUniversity and Loyola Law SchoolLoyola of Los Angeles Law Review Law Reviews3-1-1979Dedication—J. Rex DibbleOtto M. KausFrederick J. LowerLloyd TevisRichard A. VachonThis Introduction is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and LoyolaLaw School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@LoyolaMarymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@lmu.edu.Recommended CitationOtto M. Kaus, Frederick J. Lower, Lloyd Tevis & Richard A. Vachon, Dedication—J. Rex Dibble, 12 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. ix (1979).Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/llr/vol12/iss2/1DEDICATIONThe Loyola ofLosAngeles Law Review dedicates this issue to Profes-sor J. Rex Dibble, in commemoration of his retirement from the facultyof Loyola Law School. For over four decades, Professor Dibble hasbeen a major figure at the Law School. The Class of '79 is fortunate forhaving had the opportunity to benefit from Professor Dibble's com-mand of Constitutional Law and from his rigorous teaching methods.We undoubtedly join two generations of Loyola graduates in thankingProfessor Dibble for the enrichment of our analytical skills.The Board of EditorsOtto M. Kaus*Our class of '49, which started law school in September 1946, was acurious lot, though we did not know it at the time. Law school was notjust a continuation of undergraduate studies-most of us had not sat ina college classroom for the duration of the war, and after several yearsaway from books, going back to school seemed regressive. Yet we werekeenly aware that the war had delayed our career goals by just thoseyears. Besides, many of us had taken on family responsibilities ratherearlier in life than we had planned. In brief, we had lost whateverscholarly habits and virtues we ever had and looked on law school notas an occasion to become familiar with a new and exciting discipline,but solely as a means to an end: admission to the Bar, and, thereby,untold riches. As far as we were concerned anything that was not onthe Bar exam we did not want to hear about, teachers who asked ques-tions without answering them were not earning their pay and legalproblems without black letter solutions were unfair to veterans in ahurry. We were a tough audience.Under these conditions it is proof of Rex Dibble's genius as a teacherthat he survived us and we him. Of course, he cheated: for had hecome on like the typical frustrated Gestapo interrogator, sadisticallydelighted in confusing the student and grinding him into bits, we wouldsimply have scratched him off as another loser and turned to ForrestCool's outlines and Witkin's Summary, then a manageable-and af-fordable-two volumes. No, Rex fooled us by at first seeming to begenuinely willing to please us on our own Philistine terms: "Tell uswhat the law is, not what it ought to be, might have been or never willbe." It did not last, of course-but somehow, when Rex decided toshift into the higher gears, we were willing, even anxious, to try andfollow. Heaven only knows by what magic he turned a blas6 group ofcareer-hungry vets into intellectually-curious scholars-I suppose ifone could analyze it, one would have the undiscovered and undiscover-able recipe for "how to be a great teacher."No matter how it was done, under Rex we came of age as lawyers.For this my class mates and I shall be forever in his debt. About twodecades later, under his deanship, the law school itself came of* Associate Justice, California Court of Appeal.19791 PROFESSOR J REX DIBBLEage-and the number of debtors multiplied by the dozen. The profes-sion will never be able to repay him.Frederick J Lower, Jr. *I find it a difficult task to write about J. Rex Dibble because of myown uncertainty over which hat I should wear in responding to theinvitation of the editor. Tributes upon retirement from teaching areusually written by former students, fellow professors, deans andfriends. Fortunately, through a happy combination of circumstancesextending over nearly twenty years, I can lay claim to all of these hats.I cannot recall my first meeting with Rex, although I am certain itwas more of an encounter than a meeting. One simply did not meetProfessor Dibble in Constitutional Law. One encountered his brilliantanalysis and exposition, and his hypotheticals that ranged, according tothe typical student wisdom of the day, somewhere between baffling andconfusing.Rex was a teacher from the no-nonsense, hard work and strictly busi-ness school of teaching. And he did work his students hard, both inpreparing for his classes as well as during each class session. J. Rex, ashe was known privately among the students, habitually called upon onestudent at a time, firing question after question until the student wilted,waivered, caved-in, collapsed-or the bell rang. I remember vividlythat during the year I studied Constitutional Law I held the record for"minutes on your feet." This was an achievement no one ever sought,but one that once conferred was worn proudly, ranking somewhere be-tween a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.The hundreds of students privileged to sit in his classes can neverforget the stimulating and effective influence of a rugged personalitythey respected. Rex's skill in the methodology of teaching, an individ-ual methodology that probably only Rex could make work, is an im-portant attribute of one who devoted a lifetime to academic pursuits.Yet there are two other qualities that are perhaps even more importantin his make-up for they formed the bed rock upon which he builteverything else he did. These qualities are thoroughness and fairness.And with regard to these qualities Rex was scrupulous, in the very* Dean, Loyola Law School Los Angeles.LOYOLA OF LOS ANGELES LAW REVIEWgood sense of being minutely careful, precise and exact. His writings,his lectures and the manner in which he dealt with everyone bear wit-ness to these qualities. His colleagues chose him as their dean. Hisprofession made him a life member of the prestigious American LawInstitute. The list could go on. But of all his accomplishments andservices it is as a teacher that Rex shall best be remembered.He was also a marvelous faculty colleague. During faculty meetingswe looked forward to those relatively rare moments when Rex raisedhis hand, for we knew that the fuzzy and obscure would be clarifiedand organized. He was always direct and practical and was a master ofdramatic simplicity.His mature judgment and advice were always available for the ask-ing. Rex first came to the law school in 1937, and he had an unrivaledbreadth and depth of experience which he was perfectly willing toshare but which he was totally unwilling to force upon anyone.But the times I remember best are those with Rex and Elda, his wifeof nearly fifty years, aboard their sloop Comanche off the Californiacoast. Those were the quiet times, the fun times. I think my favoritemental picture of Rex consists of watching him position the main hatchcover on the Comanche after a day of sailing. Here was Rex the sailor.Rugged, honest, independent and forthright. A man who lives life ashe taught his students.And as he begins his retirement he should know that his exampleand influence will continue to be important in the lives of his students,colleagues and friends-no matter which hat(s) they wear.Lloyd Tevis*When the tattered remnants of the entering class of 1947 gathered forthe fall semester of 1948, there was a collective feeling of confidence.We had, after all, survived the first-year trial by ordeal. We supposedthat- the toughest part of law school was behind us. Our mistake wasthat we failed to take Professor J. Rex Dibble into account. It was hewho would teach us what preparation really meant. It was he whowould guide us into an expanded understanding and appreciation ofthe law. In doing so, he would introduce us to a level of classroomexcellence we had not dreamed existed.* Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.[Vol. 12PROFESSOR J REX DIBBLEIt was my good fortune to take Constitutional Law, Trusts, and Fed-eral Taxation from Professor Dibble. The work was difficult as it hadto pass his rigid inspection. Yet under his tutelage it did not becomedrudgery. As the saying goes, "He ran a tight ship." (God knows hedid!). This perhaps made him less beloved than some other less de-manding professors, but he gained the more important re-sponses-respect and confidence. Without hesitancy I have, over theintervening thirty years, been able to say on many occasions that RexDibble was the best teacher I have ever had.Recent years have been years of abundance for the nation's lawschools. It is sometimes hard to remember that it was not always thus.The latter half of the 1950's presented a different picture at many lawschools, including Loyola. The postwar student boom was over andenrollment was down. Many traditional values in legal education werebeing subjected to scrutiny. Loyola did not escape the difficulties andchallenge. The times required new leadership. Loyola found it in theperson of J. Rex Dibble, who became our Dean in 1959. His appoint-ment marked a turning point in the life of the Law School.The years that followed were filled with accomplishments. It wouldbe impossible to rank them in order of their importance or lasting ef-fect. A mere recitation would fail to do justice to the man who pro-vided the necessary inspiration and leadership.Over the years of his Deanship, Rex's insistence on high standards ofcompetence and professionalism permeated every nook and cranny ofthe Law School: the quality and size of the faculty; the curriculum; theperformance of the students; the library services; the student services;even the housekeeping of the premises. New ties to the alumni wereestablished, including our first tentative approach to continuing legaleducation of the bar. His leadership was demanding, but not dictato-rial. To an extent never before achieved, the faculty was involved inplanning and policymaking. By the time Rex resigned to return to full-time teaching, a vastly different institution had been built.All this is not to suggest that nothing remained for his successors toaccomplish. Yet a substantial revitalization had occurred. With crea-tive workmanship and devotion he laid the foundation which sustainedthe unprecedented growth that followed.It must have been with a sense of accomplishment, yet also with asense of relief, that Rex returned to full-time teaching. It has been saidthat it is a waste of a good teacher to make him Dean. This was nottrue in his case, but Rex does belong in a classroom. In the twelve or so1979]LOYOLA OF LOS ANGELES LAW REVIEWyears since he returned there, hundreds of students have become richerfor having met him there.For some thirty-one years I have been associated in one way or an-other with J. Rex Dibble. Much that one knows and appreciates aboutanother after so many years of a friendship does not lend itself to pub-lic expression. What I have said will, I hope, suggest the esteem andregard I have for Rex Dibble. I feel a particular sense of gratitude forhis friendship and am forever indebted to him for what he has taughtme in and out of the classroom by word and by example.Richard A. Vachon, S.J *To write of Rex Dibble releases a flood of memories. The adminis-trator who could build the structure to house the expanding faculty andstudent body for a curriculum which he had the guiding hand in devel-oping. The colleague who invented the incomparable "Dibble Test"designed to select those faculty applicants who could operate soberlyunder stress. The meticulously prepared teacher of generations of law-yers. The self-proclaimed conservative who was always long stridesahead of everyone else in breaking new paths for student freedom andparticipation in one's own destiny. The extra-ordinary self-taught mar-iner who lived life fully, joyously and intelligently. It all brings backmy first encounter with him seventeen years ago. Encounter it was, anda fond memory. But it was a sign of the effect a strong and dutiful mancan have on events and institutions outside his ken and perhaps evenbeyond his immediate interest. And it was a portent of things to come,for such men mold history.In June of 1962 1 was finishing my graduate work at Columbia. Onthe fourth, I received a letter from my Provincial Superior informingme that he was assigning me to teach at Loyola Law School. That wasthe way things were done in that far-off pre-Vatican II era. Within aweek I wrote to Dean Dibble of this fact, expecting that it would bereceived with at least as much thrilling happiness as I was experiencing.I then left New York for Boston to make a retreat and points North.On the 5th of July I returned to New York. A letter was awaiting mefrom Father Casassa, President of Loyola. He informed me that Rexhad read my earlier letter with something less than enthusiastic glee,* Professor Of Law, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.[Vol. 12PROFESSOR J REX DIBBLEand requested that I send Rex my curriculum vitae, come to Los Ange-les for an interview and have my application processed as any otherapplicant's.And so I flew to Los Angeles, met with Rex and Lloyd and Clem andBud and Don. I was taken to lunch where I underwent the "DibbleTest," presumably, successfully. As far as I have been able to ascer-tain, this was the first time that a Jesuit's application to teach in a JesuitUniversity was processed in this way. Of course it is a common prac-tice today and has been developed into a rigorous scrutinizing proce-dure. But it was Rex's strength and independence which proved to be aharbinger of what would be a general practice uniformly accepted inevery Jesuit institution in the country.The dictionary tells us that a "dibble" is an instrument to make holesin the ground for seeds, bulbs and young plants. Rex planted well.What Loyola Law School is today is in large measure the fruit of hislabor. But more than that, his dedication to the details of Loyola LawSchool's proper development had an influence beyond the Law School.Far beyond it.19791PROFESSOR J. REX DIBBLE

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