Published on March 22, 2018 by Morgan Black  
rascal day 2018

Íò²©¹ÙÍø’s Cumberland School of Law will host its annual Rascal Day parade, memorial service and lunch on Thursday, April 5, at 11 a.m. at Centennial Walk on Íò²©¹ÙÍø’s campus.

Unique to Íò²©¹ÙÍø and Cumberland, the annual event memorializes Rascal, a mongrel pup that faithfully attended classes at Cumberland's former home in Lebanon, Tennessee, beginning in 1933. In 1937, he was presented the rare degree of Doctor of Canine Jurisprudence. Rascal passed away in 1940 and was buried beneath the window where he attended classes. When Cumberland moved to Birmingham in 1961, Rascal's tombstone and a few spadesful of dirt were brought to the Íò²©¹ÙÍø campus, and re-interred at the Blackacre Patio on the west side of Robinson Hall.

To honor Rascal, every year during Law Week, students, faculty, friends and their pets process behind a New Orleans-style jazz band, from the foot of Íò²©¹ÙÍø's Centennial Walk to Blackacre Patio. After a eulogy by Professor Howard Walthall, mourners and pets enjoy a hotdog lunch served by Cumberland faculty, plus awards and favors are given to the students for their dogs.

 
Íò²©¹ÙÍø is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Íò²©¹ÙÍø is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Íò²©¹ÙÍø enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Íò²©¹ÙÍø fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.