Dear Friends,

As we enter this New Year of challenge and opportunity together, we have so much to look forward to and so much to be grateful for. We started the new year right with a special ceremony naming our renowned and ever rising high tech law and IP program in honor of Mita Datta, J.D. ‘16’s family.

We also contributed mightily to the Association of American Law Schools annual conference last week. Professor Fiona McKenna was honored as Faculty Member of the Year; Professor Sue Guan presented her brilliant scholarship; Professor Nicholas Serafin’s latest article was named as a finalist for the Scholarly Papers Competition; Dean Caitlin Jachimowicz presented our law school’s pathbreaking strategies to increase student scholarships, access, and affordability; Dean Cheryl Caligaris shared her expertise in mission-aligned advancement, alumni relations, fundraising, and stewardship, and Deborah Moss-West, Evangeline Abriel, and our remarkable student, Caitlin Strickland all were recognized for their public service by being placed on the Pro Bono Honor Roll. 

Under the extraordinary leadership of Dean Teresa Kopriva, we also joined our fellow Jesuit law schools in hosting a glorious gathering honoring Bill Treanor, Dean Emeritus of Georgetown Law, and celebrating our success in advancing our shared Jesuit values of access to opportunity, educational rigor, inclusive excellence, social justice, innovation for the greater good, and the equal dignity of every human being. Dean Kopriva partnered with Amy Uelman, the Director of Mission and Ministry at Georgetown; Lisa Brathwaite, the Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Boston College; and Jennifer Perrigo, the Senior Associate Dean of Strategic and Student Affairs at Boston College to orchestrate a convening of all of the mission officers from the Jesuit law schools, strengthening our collaborative efforts to ensure that those values continue to be fully integrated into the lives of all of our law schools.

With a renewed sense of shared purpose, we continue our efforts to uphold our mission-aligned democratic values. Our Dean’s Democracy Series (DDS) will be back in 2026, engaging students, faculty, and national thought leaders around the most pressing issues of our political moment and core democratic values, including freedom from tyranny, equal justice under the rule of law, judicial independence, due process, voting rights, and educational opportunity. The series will continue to facilitate dialogue, evidence-based inquiry, and respect for a diversity of viewpoints and life experiences. Here are our upcoming DDS events:

• Jan. 22, 2026 - The Good Society & Tyrants: The Intractable Struggle
• Jan. 27, 2026 - Divided Powers to Uphold Law: The Separation of Powers and the Rule of Law
• Feb. 11, 2026 - What Do We Mean When We Say "Rule of Law"?
• Feb. 26, 2026 - Divided Sovereignty: Federal-State Relations and the Rule of Law
• Mar. 26, 2026 - The Rule of Law and Armed Conflict

We arise together in this New Year with hearts of wisdom, resolved to accompany each other in the co-creation of a hope filled future.

With warm regards and great gratitude,

 

Michael J. Kaufman
Dean and Professor of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law