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Rascal Day“Rare degree of Doctor of Canine Jurisprudence”
Rascal Day continues to be a day that captures the spirit of the Cumberland experience and its ability to develop well rounded lawyers. Cumberland School of Law is a law school where peers, Deans, faculty, and staff encourage and support you academically. The essence of Rascal Day represents the Cumberland mentality where the Deans, faculty, and staff are all approachable and are there to help with your goal of becoming a successful lawyer. The celebration honors a mongrel pup named Rascal. According to tradition, Rascal faithfully attended classes at the law school’s former campus location in Lebanon, Tennessee, beginning in 1933, until he was presented with the rare degree of Doctor of Canine Jurisprudence in 1937. Legend holds that his diploma was awarded in recognition of the hundreds of classes and mock trials at which his attendance had been difficult to ignore. When he passed away in 1940, Rascal was buried beneath the window of the classroom where he had spent so much time.
Rascal Day remains a much-anticipated event on the Cumberland campus, bringing together community, students, faculty, families, and of course dogs for fun and festivities. It’s not every day or at every law school a jazz band followed by your Dean and the University’s President both
Click to view pictures from 2009 Rascal Day Helpful Cumberland Navigator: Related Pages |
When Cumberland moved to Birmingham in 1961, Rascal’s tombstone and a few spadefuls of dirt from his grave were brought to the Samford campus and reinterred on the west side of Robinson Hall. Each year, a procession of two- and four-legged creatures passes by Rascal’s grave to commemorate one of Cumberland’s most memorable graduates.
dressed in black tie lead a strut up over and through campus to honor a K9 with an honorary law degree. 
So come grab a hotdog from Dr. Westmoreland and a piece of cake from Judge Carroll and and if you work hard and attend class like Rascal one day maybe there will be a march in your honor. At the very least, next year, with a good costume a pi
cture of you and your dog probably will make the website.
