Dear Friends,

In these perilous times, our deeply rooted commitment to human dignity and social justice is more imperative than ever. Faced with daily assaults on the rule of law, due process, fundamental freedoms, and life itself, our students continue to exhibit extraordinary fortitude and character. Many are finding renewed purpose in their belief that these moments of challenge are precisely why they are in law school, and specifically at Santa Clara Law. They are developing the knowledge, skills, and values to serve their clients and communities with competence, conscience, and compassion; to uphold our democratic values; and to protect the equal dignity of every human being. 

As difficult as these moments are, our students are rising to the occasion with a renewed sense of purpose and responsibility. Our caring educators—faculty and staff—know that many of our students are navigating circumstances that require additional connection to our support services, and we are responding with the power of our expertise and the fullness of our hearts. At the same time, our students are supporting one another and leading us in advancing our Jesuit moral and spiritual values, including those clearly articulated by the United States Catholic Bishops and affirmed by Pope Leo.

With uncommon perseverance in meeting all of their many obligations, our students have a clear-eyed awareness of the magnitude of what they are experiencing and a belief that they are meant to be the ones to help create change.

I was especially grateful to hear their resolve reinforced at our student-led Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, co-hosted by the Black Law Student Association and Center for Social Justice and Public Service. We lifted up the life and legacy of Dr. King, and we were reminded that the solution to injustice lies not in silence, but in acts of communal courage. It was so appropriate that at this occasion, we also honored our beloved colleague, Professor Emeritus Allen Hammond, who passed away in recent days. As Professor Margaret Russell and Dean Nicole Maxwell beautifully shared, Al was not only a tremendous scholar, teacher, and public servant— he was a kind soul with a loving presence and a heart of wisdom. His legacy is alive in our law school’s enduring ethic of loving kindness and in the hopefulness that inspires our students to bend the long arc of the moral universe toward justice.   

MLK Day Event & Professor Allen Hammond Tribute

In that same spirit, we also reinvigorated our Dean’s Democracy series with illuminating and thought-provoking programs. Professors Brad Joondeph, Nick Serafin, and David Sloss, and Robin Tholin, attorney at Altschuler Berzon, LLP. presented “Divided Powers to Uphold Law: The Separation of Powers and the Rule of Law.” Joel Seligman and Mary Schwab Seligman, Professors of Law at Washington University School of Law, led a profound conversation about their new book, The Good Society and Tyrants: The Intractable Struggle. These forums provided space for open dialogue and the exchange of ideas, both paramount to our collective resilience and our ability to take meaningful, informed action in the face of grave threats to our democratic values. 

And I was in awe of our first year students, all of whom joined together to discuss key issues at the intersection of race and law as part of the formation of their professional identity. Led by Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, Thiadora Pina, they engaged critically with our criminal legal system through presentations by our colleagues Sarah Pace and Lauryn Barbosa-Findley from the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP), and they heard firsthand testimonials from our exonerated clients, Miguel Solorio and Armando Ortiz. Our students came face to face with the inhumane impact of our deeply flawed criminal legal system, but, as expressed in National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman’s recent poem, “For Renee Nicole Good,” they also learned that:

“Change is only possible,
& all the greater,
When the labour
& bitter anger of our neighbors
Is moved by the love 
& better angels of our nature.”

In these trying times, may we all follow the example set by our awe-inspiring students of leading with love, and in the words of another Amanda Gorman poem, "For Alex Jeffrey Pretti":

"Know that to care intensively, united, is to carry both pain-dark horror for today & a profound daring hope for tomorrow."

With warm regards and great gratitude,

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