Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1912 [PAGE 181]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

1911]

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

137

had been refused, filed a petition for a w r i t of m a n d a m u s to compel the conferring upon h i m of t h e degree of Doctor of Medicine. T h e suit w a s commenced against the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and service was had upon Dr. Quine as its dean. After E>r. Quine had pleaded to t h e w r i t t h a t he w a s "not t h e dean of t h e College of Physicians and Surgeons, b u t dean of t h e College of Medicine of t h e University of Illinois, Wakefield filed an amended petition in which he made the Board of Trustees of t h e University of Illinois p a r t y defendant, and u n d e r t h a t style t h e litigation was conducted until its final determination. T h e petition, was based upon a four years' attendance, the p a y m e n t of all required fees, t h e s t u d y of all required courses and a large n u m b e r of electives, and t h e successful completion of one thousand h o u r s of work above t h a t required for graduation. To t h e petition I answered for the t r u s t e e s t h a t a degree is conferred upon a student of t h e University of Illinois only upon recommendation of t h e faculty of t h e college in which the s t u d e n t is registered, and t h a t the medical faculty h a d declined to recommend Wakefield for a degree because of poor scholarship. T h e answer justified the action of the medical faculty; first, because of Wakefield's poor work as a student generally, and, second, because he had on final examination failed to pass in a required course of the senior year, denominated medicine. To meet t h e contention of t h e petitioner t h a t he had pas.sed final examinations in a thousand hours more work t h a n t h a t actually required for graduation, and was, therefore, ( entitled to his degree, t h e answer recited R u l e ' 4 1 adopted for the guidance of underg r a d u a t e s t u d e n t s which r e a d s : "A student h a v i n g grades below 75 in subjects aggregating twenty-five per cent of h i s entire work shall not be graduated," and charged t h a t the petitioner came w i t h i n t h e inhibition contained in v the rule. The petitioner renlipd to the m a t t e r set up by us in justification t h a t his failure to pass in medicine did not bar his r i g h t to a degree for t h e reason t h a t the medical faculty had adopted a rule which allowed a s t u d e n t to g r a d u a t e who had failed in not more t h a n two courses, and, t h a t he should not be barred because of poor examination grades, for t h e reason t h a t his grades were withheld from him d u r i n g t h e four years of his attendance a n d t h a t t h e only notification t h a t he h a d ever received with reference to t h e m was t h a t he had "passed." To the replication we demurred and contended t h a t t h e rule of the medical faculty which allowed a s t u d e n t to g r a d u a t e w h o had not failed in more t h a n two courses did not-divest t h e faculty of its discretion, but left it with the r i g h t to recommend or refuse to recommend for degree such a student, the t h o u g h t being t h a t the faculty m i g h t be willing to so recommend as to a student who had m a d e exceptionally good grades in all but two minor courses and unwilling to so recommend as to a s t u d e n t of poor grade who had failed in only one i m p o r t a n t course. W e also contended t h a t it w a s a m a t t e r of discretion w h e t h e r grades be given out or withheld from students, a discretion with which courts should n o t . interfere. After a somewhat extended a r g u m e n t in which counsel for Wakefield not only insisted t h a t the replication w a s sufficient b u t t h a t t h e m a t t e r s set up in our answer as justification were insufficient, t h e court, Judge McSurely presiding, sustained our demurrer, refused to carry it back to t h e answer, and in a lucid oral opinion upheld our lines of defense. A few days afterwards t h e petitioner, on leave granted, filed an amended replication in which he charged abuse of discretion on t h e p a r t of t h e medical faculty and incorrect and false r e t u r n by Dean Quine of the petitioner's final examination in medicine. We joined issue and t h e case came for trial before Judge McDonald and a jury, April 19, 1911. At t h e conclusion of t h e petitioner's evidence, which consisted of his own testimony and the testimony of "several m e m b e r s of t h e medical faculty, I moved for an instruction directing t h e j u r y to find for t h e t r u s t e e s . After a r g u m e n t , which w a s invited by J u d g e McDonald, it was held by h i m t h a t large discretion w a s vested in t h e University a u t h o r i t i e s in conducting i t s