Commencement Ceremony Celebrates King Hall Class of 2015
Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar of the California Supreme Court delivered the commencement address and Victoria Wong '15 was awarded the Law School Medal for outstanding academic achievement at the UC Davis School of Law 2015 Commencement Ceremony held May 15 at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. The event also included remarks from Dean Kevin R. Johnson, UC Davis Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter, Professor Ashutosh Bhagwat, and John Paul Wallis '15. A total of 186 JD and 58 LLM students participated in the ceremony.
Acting as master of ceremonies, Dean Johnson welcomed the students along with the many friends and family in attendance. He talked about the wide-ranging experiences and interests of the Class of 2015, and praised their commitment to public service, noting that half the members of the class completed the Law School's Public Service program. "We have a great law school because we have great students," he said. "The Class of 2015 is nothing less than remarkable."
Student speaker J.P. Wallis said he felt privileged to have been able to serve in the military in Iraq prior to coming to law school and to have been a member of the King Hall Class of 2015. Wallis praised his classmates for "the level of compassion and understanding you have for others, and your drive to use your knowledge and skills to help others in need."
Professor Bhagwat talked about the leadership role attorneys play in American society, pointing out that "lawyers exercise power and authority in our society more than any other group, and have done so throughout our history." He encouraged the Class of 2015 to be "active citizens working with others to advance the causes you believe in."
Provost Hexter spoke on "the topic of ecology and ecosystem, as they apply not to the natural world, but to our social one," likening the Class of 2015 to "a new species about to be introduced into the world."
"There is no one right path," said Hexter. "Find the one that's right for you. Whatever path you choose, please do whatever you can to promote the health of our social ecosystem."
In his commencement address, Justice Cuéllar told the inspirational stories of Alexander Hamilton, "an immigrant lawyer who became nation's first Secretary of the Treasury," Sally Armendariz, whose Supreme Court battle to establish disability benefits for pregnant women contributed to major changes in state and federal law, and Hong Yen Chang, who was denied a license to practice in California more than a century ago on the basis of laws that discriminated against Chinese immigrants but was admitted to the bar earlier this year thanks to the efforts of the UC Davis School of Law Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) and their faculty advisor, Professor Gabriel "Jack" Chin.
"I believe in these lives you can hear a song, a song that echoes in your own life," said Justice Cuéllar. "And it is through your song, blending notes of shrewdness and fealty, you will show the world what it means to be alive."