News

Community Safety Department Director To Resign Amid Tension With Cambridge Police Department

News

From Lab to Startup: Harvard’s Office of Technology Development Paves the Way for Research Commercialization

News

People’s Forum on Graduation Readiness Held After Vote to Eliminate MCAS

News

FAS Closes Barker Center Cafe, Citing Financial Strain

News

8 Takeaways From Harvard’s Task Force Reports

SEAVEY SAYS LEO CURLEY "FOOLISH" TO QUIT SCHOOL

Hears Aspersion Cast on Father From Seat in Rear--To Resign From Law School At Once

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED

Identified as the member of the Law School faculty who slurred ex-Governor Curley's regime in the presence of Leo F. Curley 1L in a classroom Tuesday, Warren A. Seavey '02, professor of Law, declared last night that "a mountain had been made out of a molchill."

"I do think it is foolish of the boy to withdraw from the Law School because of a small thing like this," Seavey said, "I understand perfectly well how the boy felt and I don't blame him in the least." He added that he had mailed a letter to the boy apologizing for the slur.

Not in Regular Seat

The affair occurred Tuesday in Seavey's class in Criminal Law, a course Leo was regularly enrolled. On that day, however, he had not taken his customary seat and was in the back of the room. The discussion was on the privilege of newspapers commenting on men who run for public office. Someone in the class posed the question to Seavey that if the newspapers had printed all they knew about Mayor Thompson of Chicago, did not he feel that Thompson would not have been reelected.

Seavey answered by referring to the Boston ex-Governor. "Well, everybody knows about Curley, and yet I'm afraid he's going to be elected Mayor." There was an embarrassing silence in the room, although no one looked around toward Leo, whom everybody in the room except Seavey knew to be present. Then the discussion started on a different angle.

"Successful Lawyer"

After class, Leo went up to Seavey, who immediately apologized. The whole situation was revealed by Leo's father Wednesday night at the officers' meeting of the Hibernia Savings Bank, of which the ex-Governor is president.

"He did not assert that I am or was corrupt," the politician stated, "but there was a nasty implication in his words." Commenting on his son's career, he said, "My son was doing well in his class work, and seemed to his father at least to give good promise of one day becoming a successful lawyer." He added that he had advised his son to withdraw from the Law School.

The affair was not the first time that Lee had been in some classroom in which aspersions were cast on his father's honesty, it was also revealed. According to Edmund M. Morgan '02, Acting Dean of the Law School, no letter of resignation had been received from Lee as yet

Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.

Tags
OSZAR »