Dean Dooley speaking at the first graduation of the Law School, June 8, 1932. The ceremony took place on the grounds of Boston College. (John J. Burns Library, Boston College)

The Depression of 1929 had less effect on the school than was expected, although Dooley and the dean of the Graduate School Rev. John B. Creeden, S.J. did implement a pay-as-you-can plan for the students. Dooley even occasionally brought some of the needier students home for dinner so that they would get a square meal for a change.

Rather than lowering standards to ensure a large student body, Dooley and Creeden rejected all suggestions to ease up on students, instead following Dooley’s desire not only for quality graduates but also for early approval from both the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools. The result was that fifty percent of Dooley’s first BC Law class quit or flunked. Those of the first class who survived graduated on June 8, 1932 and on December 5, 1932, Boston College Law School received formal approval from the ABA headquarters as a “Class A” school, a recognition which conferred prestige to the Law School and made the school more attractive to students throughout the country.

Two weeks after leaving the school in 1936, Dooley was appointed the state librarian by Governor James M. Curley, an appointment which he held through several administrations until he retired. Dooley also served as the first president of the Law Librarians of New England, from 1949-1950. Dean Dooley died in 1971.

Next: Cornelius J. Moynihan (Dean, 1936 – 1937)