Dear Friends,

With great gratitude, hope, and joy, we welcomed 265 exceptional new 1Ls into the Santa Clara Law community, including 51 students who comprise the third cohort of our innovative hybrid part-time Flex J.D. program. True to its mission, our new Flex J.D. program has brought to our law school community professionals from all walks of life (more than 20% of whom have a Ph.D.) whose working and family commitments would not otherwise allow them to pursue a law degree. We also are blessed to be joined by the largest cohorts of Tech Edge J.D. and Public Interest J.D. students in our law school’s history. 

Each one of our incoming students is remarkably strong in their credentials and character. They already have been supported during every step of their law school journey by our faculty, staff-educators, alumni, and continuing students, under the leadership of our incredible admissions team of Ryan Bindi, Yolanda Garcia, Emily Grossman, Patricia Lopez, Alexa Othon, and Dean Caitlin Jachimowicz. 

During their Convocation ceremony, our new students were treated to words of advice and inspiration by our wonderful alum, Landon Edmond J.D. ’98, who shared his professional path to his current position as Chief Legal Officer for Klayvio, Inc. We are grateful to Landon for his example of personal and professional formation, rooted in core values, a deep commitment to community building, and the ethical and humane embrace of technology. We also extend great thanks to our University Provost, James Glaser for welcoming our students to the university; to Judge Risë Pichon ’73, J.D. ’76, for administering the Oath of Professionalism; to our dedicated Student Bar Association co-presidents, Cari Hall and Anthony Giammona, for giving our new students great “vibes,” encouragement, and support; and to Father Luis Calero, S.J. for beautifully blessing our gathering in the School’s Jesuit, Catholic tradition. 

The Convocation was just one of the highlights of a magnificent week of orientation programs. Tremendous thanks go to Dean Nicole Maxwell, Director of Student Life Rianna Mendoza, CLS student mentors and student volunteers, and our amazing teams from Law Student Services, Law Administrative Services, OABS, Advancement & Alumni Relations, Law Technology, Facilities, Enrollment & Operations, ExPro, our centers and clinics, our SCU campus partners, all of our faculty and staff-educators, and of course Bucky Bronco for surrounding our new students with spirit and support. 

As our newest students have quickly realized, we are not just a law school. We are a transformative learning community built on an ethic of loving kindness. We have tremendous faith that our new students will use their Santa Clara Law education to serve their clients and their communities with competence, conscience, compassion, and connection. They will learn to use their formidable talents to overcome the serious ongoing challenges to democracy and the rule of law that we are facing, and build a more just, humane, and sustainable world for us all. As Pope Francis taught in his beautiful encyclical Fratelli tutti, and as Pope Leo and Father General of the Society of Jesus Arturo Sosa have reminded us, our Jesuit mission calls all of us hold tight to our democratic values and engage in: 

“‘dialogue’ as the path toward concord among peoples and peace for humanity: Approaching, speaking, listening, looking at, coming to know and understand one another, and to find common ground: all these things are summed up in the one word ‘dialogue.’”

Toward that end, I wish to draw your attention to the letter sent to our community by more than 50 of our faculty regarding their yearning to accompany our students in our shared work of upholding our core democratic principles. I am also pleased to announce that we will be building on the great success of our Dean’s Democracy Series by launching an array of forums this year dedicated to appreciating and upholding our democratic values and to practicing the art of genuine dialogue, through which we will continue to “come to know and understand one another, and to find common ground.”

As a blessed and beloved law school community, we have so much to be grateful for, and so much to look forward to in the year ahead.

With warm regards and immense gratitude,

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