Twelve years ago, Professor Bill Henderson, a faculty member at the Maurer School of Law, Indiana University Bloomington, had an opportunity to meet a young man with a vision, Professor C. Raj Kumar from India. At the time, Prof Raj Kumar was a faculty member at the City University of Hong Kong. However, Prof Raj Kumar had other, bigger plans.
Prof Bill recalls, “Raj’s dream was to establish a law school in India that would be on par with Harvard and Oxford but with a mission to fully establish and uphold the rule of law in India”. Upon his visit to India, Prof. Bill was pleasantly surprised to see ‘the dream’ take shape.
Merely, a one flat construction site with a single concrete building. However, in his subsequent visit after six months, he was greeted by a fully functioning school sporting spacious classrooms, a library, faculty offices, alleys brimming with students and much more, on the same site. At the time, Prof. Raj gifted Prof. Henderson an inspirational poster. The message on this poster would become relevant in the years to come for Prof Henderson.
A decade down the line, in 2019, Professor Henderson, having exhausted his network, found himself lamenting the lack of support from peers to raise funds for the Institute for the Future of Law Practice at the Maurer School of Law, Indiana University Bloomington.
This is when he chanced upon the poster gifted by Prof. Raj, shelved, years ago. The heading read “Anyway” followed by lines penned by Kent Keith; so meaningful, so apposite, for Prof. Henderson.
“Do these things Anyway”, the line resonated with Prof.Henderson
He compared his struggles to Prof Raj’s as their vision found a resemblance to an extent, Only to understand that his struggles were fairly diminished, compared to Prof. Raj’s, and yet the visionary from India, had successfully translated his dream into reality.
Now more resolute, he understood that continued effort is what matters. Bolstered by fresh vigor and humility, Prof Henderson continues his mission.
