John Czajkowski '83 at the National Cancer Institute, where he has worked as the Deputy Director for Management
My McNamara Moment
by John Czajkowski '83
W
hen I graduated from the
University
of
Maryland
Baltimore County in 1987, I
decided I wanted to go to law school. I had
enjoyed my undergraduate experience and
felt my talents would best be served in the
realm of public service.
A necessary portion of applying was
presenting a letter of recommendation. I
had done well enough on my LSATs to go
where I wanted, but needed some strong
letters of recommendation to complete my
package.
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THE MUSTANG MESSENGER
Growing up in Upper Marlboro, Maryland,
I chose to ask one of my neighbors – Arthur
“Bud” Marshall – for a letter. Mr. Marshall
had recently ended his 25-year tenure as
the Maryland State Attorney for Prince
George’s County. Despite being neighbors
for many years, though, he had no idea who
I was.
When I walked into his office, he gave
me sort of a puzzled look as he reviewed
my very lean resume. He said it in nicer
terms, but the gist of what I remember his
reaction being was, “I have never seen you
before, so why are you asking me for a letter
of recommendation?”
I explained to him who I was, where I lived,
where I had gone to college, and how I
wanted to go to law school. I also shared
with him that he and I knew many of the
same people, even though we had never
personally interacted before. He seemed
impressed by my aspirations and, rather
bluntly, asked about my criminal record.
I stumbled at the question. “Criminal
record?” I asked. I offered up that I’d been
pulled over for a speeding ticket once, but
other than that, mine was a bit of a dull
story — especially when it came to criminal
transgressions.
He stared at me and, dropping his voice,
told me, “I’m going to run your record. If
you really grew up in that neighborhood
and don’t have a criminal record, I’ll write
you a letter of recommendation just for
that.”
And he did. Nearly 30 years later, I still
have four original, hand-written copies
of the letter he wrote. I keep them in my
THE MUSTANG MESSENGER
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