About 180 students from the University’s School of Law, a three-year program, received diplomas Sunday afternoon in the Hult Center’s Silva Concert Hall becoming the University’s first graduating class of the new millennium.
“I want to welcome all of you to a life in the law — a deeply and profoundly satisfying life in the law,” said keynote speaker Luke Cole, director of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation’s Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment based in San Francisco.
Cole focuses his work in helping low-income communities address environmental issues throughout the country. Currently on sabbatical from the center, he is teaching environmental law at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law.
Third-year law students voted on Cole as this year’s commencement speaker.
In his speech, Cole challenged the graduating students to live a career where they’re “not afraid to fail.” “You’re not afraid to change your mind in which you serve your community and have a balanced life. Dream of justice and go out and make it happen,” he said.
Also in attendance was U.S. District Judge Helen J. Frye, who was awarded the 2000 Meritorious Service Award. Frye, a 1966 graduate of the School of Law and native of Klamath Falls, was nominated for the position of U.S. District Judge in November 1979 by President Jimmy Carter.
For the presiding faculty, the spring commencement brought mixed emotions.
“The students have been here for three years and they’ve worked really hard, and we’ve gotten to know so many of them, so it’s a time when we’re excited for them because they get to go out and practice what we’ve tried to impart to them,” Richard Ludwick, assistant dean for student affairs, said. “It’s also a sad time for many people too because it’s saying goodbye to friends.”
For many graduates, the employment search has already begun. Merv Loya, School of Law Career Services director, reported that close to half of the class has already received job offers. He noted that if last year’s graduating class is any indication, more than 90 percent should become employed within nine months after graduation.
For the students, the time spent at the University taught them the value of dedication.
“You learn the ability to sit down and concentrate and focus and work hard. In law school, you are just centrally focused on your studies,” said graduate and Wayne Morse Scholarship recipient Gabrielle Valdez. “It’s really independent work.”
In addition to graduating from the law school, Valdez also completed her master’s degree in business last March through a program between the law school and the Lundquist College of Business. After graduation, she will head to Los Angeles to focus her energy on sports marketing by working at the Staples Center, a sports arena. She said her work through the law school has taught her the importance of hard work in all her endeavors.
“It has really disciplined me in everything that I do,” said Valdez.