Featured Faculty: Vincent Rougeau
“My passion is using the law as a means of bringing people who have always existed on the margins of society into meaningful community with the rest of us,” explains Vincent Rougeau, associate professor of law. It is this passion that prompted his involvement with South Bend’s Catholic Worker House. Rougeau and his wife Robin, a pediatrician, have been involved with the House off-and-on for a number of years, and this spring they hope to make it a family affair. “This spring I want to do some work there with my older boys,” says Rougeau. “I am looking forward to getting my children more involved in service to the community now that they are entering their teens.”
According to Rougeau, it is necessary to take seriously the ways in which our legal, economic, and social systems often work to the benefit of some people over others. “Concepts like equality, fairness, and efficiency, for example, are sometimes used to shore up benefits for the privileged without any thought of the needs of the weak and the poor,” he says.
Rougeau’s crusade for human rights can be traced back to his days as a student at Harvard Law School, where he was involved in the creation of the Harvard Human Rights Journal. “We were a small group of students who were extremely passionate about the subject, and in a two year period, we were able to bring the journal from an idea to a fully running operation that survives and thrives to this day, some 20 years later,” he says.
Before entering the teaching profession, Rougeau practiced as an associate at Morrison & Foerster in Washington, D.C. “I think I always knew that big firm law practice would not be something I would want to do for very long,” he said. Rougeau cites his tenure as academic dean from 1999-2002 as his most rewarding experience in academia. “At that time the job involved a great deal of interaction with students on a wide range of issues, from great successes to personal tragedies. I really developed a strong bond with the students during that time and felt a lot of satisfaction in my interlocking roles of mentor, teacher, faculty colleague, and scholar.”
Rougeau also serves as research associate at the Von Hügel Institute, St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge University, and at the Contextual Theology Centre in London. He will be teaching in the city this summer as part of Notre Dame Law School’s Summer in London program.
To learn more about Professor Rougeau, visit his faculty profile page
