Presidents Roosevelt Awarded Posthumous J.D.s
THEODORE AND FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT TO RECEIVE POSTHUMOUS LAW DEGREES FROM COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL
Press contact: Erin St. John Kelly [email protected]
Office 212-854-1787/Cell 646-284-8549/Public Affairs Office 212-854-2650
Office 212-854-1787/Cell 646-284-8549/Public Affairs Office 212-854-2650
September 25, 2008 (NEW YORK) – Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who attended Columbia Law School but did not complete their degrees, will receive posthumous J.D.s at a reception today. Conferring these degrees will make them official members of the Classes of 1882 and 1907 respectively.
“In honor of Columbia Law School’s Sesquicentennial year, we are pleased to commemorate the Presidents Roosevelt, two of the most remarkable and distinguished lawyers ever to train at Columbia Law School, and celebrate their connection to our storied history,” said Dean David M. Schizer.
Theodore Roosevelt attended Columbia Law School in 1880 and left in 1881 to serve in the New York State Assembly. He would have graduated in 1882 as the law school curriculum was two years long at the time. He received an honorary LL.D. in 1899.
Franklin D. Roosevelt attended Columbia Law School from the fall of 1904 to the spring 1907. He chose to take the New York State Bar Examination, which he passed, and began practicing the law immediately, without graduating.
WHAT: Conferral of posthumous degrees to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt
WHERE: Top of the Rock, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City
WHEN: Thursday, September 25, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Video b-roll of the event will be available. Please contact Erin Kelly in advance at [email protected] or (212) 854-2650.
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, and criminal law.