Weekend Frivolity: The OCU Law Cardozo Cup

At my old law school, we had an annual softball tournament.  The 1Ls played the 2Ls.  The winner of that game played the 3Ls.  The 3Ls cheated, and so they won and got to play the faculty/staff team.  By the time I arrived, the faculty/staff team had to be supplemented with alumni, and still we struggled.  Our best shot was to hope that the keg of beer that the SBA provided for the occasion leveled the playing field.  The winner would have their team name inscribed on the Cardozo Cup (left).  

But here at my new law school, we have started a new tradition.  For the First Annual Cardozo Cup Competition, I asked my contracts students to create an original work of art in honor of Judge Cardozo.  The winner was awarded the new cup (right) this week.  The Law School Dean stepped up to announce the winner.  The academic fellows, who have been helping my students throughout the year, brought in the trophy and handed it to the winner, who was cheered by his classmates.

It was a great competition, with entries spanning the visual and language arts. The students voted, and it was a close but uncontested election.  The winner, 1L Ethan Tourtellotte (pictured below, left), composed a poem in honor of Judge Cardozo.  Other leading contenders were 1L Blake Bush, who composed a noir short story with Judge Cardozo as the lead detective, and 1L Tom Taylor, who composed the Van Gogh inspired image featured below, right.

I am proud of my creative students and happy that they share my enthusiasm for Judge Cardozo, the William Faulkner of the U.S. common law.