About 160 graduates of the School of Law received their diplomas Sunday amid pomp, circumstance and speeches that reinforced the graduates’ responsibilities in the years ahead.
The class of 2004 entered the Hult Center’s Silva Concert Hall in hoods and purple and black robes, led by Assistant Professor Michael Moffitt, who served as commencement marshal.
In his opening remarks, School of Law Dean Laird Kirkpatrick noted the class’s accomplishments, which included helping establish the Oregon Review of International Law journal and setting new records for pro bono hours contributed by law students.
“As of today you are joining an alumni family of over 5,500 graduates,” Kirkpatrick said, noting that previous graduates have become members of leading law firms, U.S. senators, governors, state attorneys general and judges.
“You’ll be given numerous opportunities to serve in leadership roles, and I urge you to accept those opportunities,” he said.
Student Bar Association President Jeff Eager noted how the class changed since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
“We have studied law in a historic time,” he said. “It is cliché to say 9-11 changed everything, but its effect on the class of 2004 in the infancy of our legal education has been profound.”
Kirkpatrick presented Moffitt with the Orlando J. Hollis Faculty Teaching Award, which is given to a School of Law “outstanding teacher.”
University President Dave Frohnmayer surprised Moffitt by announcing he had won the Ersted Award for Distinguished Teaching, presented annually to two faculty members.
Kirkpatrick presented the Meritorious Service Award to Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden. This award is given to “a person or persons who have made extraordinary contributions to legal education and the law.”
“Respect for law, respect for truth and respect for the individual dignity of humankind are essential values if our society as we know it is to survive,” Reinhardt said. “With respect to those values, I beseech you to do a far better job than we our elders have done in the past and are doing today. Lead good lives, do good deeds and always remember that the ultimate objective of law is justice.”
Wyden said he was looking forward to “passing a torch” to the new generation of public servants.
“A legal education is an extraordinary honor, and with it is an increased responsibility to our community and to our state and to our world,” Wyden said. “Good luck, congratulations, don’t wait a day to get involved because we need all of you now more than ever.”
Keynote speaker Justice Rives Kistler of the Oregon Supreme Court warned about the rise of partisan politics within the past few decades.
“People in both parties … take positions not for the good of the state, but they do so to put the other party at a disadvantage, and at least for me, I find that troubling because it seems we are losing a focus on what truly matters for the state,” Kistler said. “All of you have the skills, all of you have the values and the focus on reason on helping the state that will come in and improve the society and correct what we haven’t been able to correct.”
Moffitt closed the commencement with a “charge to the class.”
“My hope is that you will find the experience of being a professional as deeply rewarding as I have,” he said. “You as a group should be proud of the things you have achieved collectively. You as individuals should be thrilled with yourselves.”
Richland, Wash., resident Janet Young traveled to Eugene with her family to see her daughter, Kaci Young, graduate.
“My daughter has totally enjoyed this experience and the people she met over here,” Janet Young said. “That’s an experience she’ll take with her forever.”