Dean Michael J. Kaufman
Dear Members of the Santa Clara Law Community,
Yesterday, we celebrated our annual Day of Giving. The record setting results are a testament to our caring community of alumni, friends, students, faculty and staff. They are an illustration of one of our greatest distinctive strengths, the Santa Clara Law family, in action. Inspired by the creation of a new endowed scholarship for the Law School, which was made possible by the generosity of the current Acting President and former Dean of the School of Law, Lisa Kloppenberg, and her husband, Mark Zunich, the Law School was the University’s top academic unit in dollars raised and 5th in total number of gifts. In recognition of Acting President Kloppenberg’s leadership, our extraordinary Law Advisory Board also contributed over $300,000 to the scholarship. What’s more, our community used this special occasion to continue to honor Justice Ed Panelli by contributing over $30,000 to the wonderful scholarship that he established for our students. In all, 279 gifts were made across all parts of the Law School, totalling over $600,000 in philanthropic support—an unprecedented level of giving! I couldn’t be more thankful for your philanthropic spirit, nor more inspired by what this level of engagement reveals about our potential as a law school!
Last week, U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings of U.S. law schools. I am pleased to report that our renowned Intellectual Property program was again ranked #4 in the nation. In addition, our International and Part-Time programs remained in the Top 50 (#42 and #43 respectively), while our business and corporate law, environmental law, and health law programs all jumped in the rankings by at least 20 spots. Within the overall US news rankings, we also improved significantly in our admissions and enrollment metrics, including the credentials of our incoming students, our selectivity, and our student-faculty ratio. Despite these important strides, our overall ranking slipped a bit to 133, due primarily to our decline in last year’s bar exam and employment rates. I can share with you the great news that next year’s employment success rate at the key mark of 10 months after graduation is 83%– substantially higher than last year’s. What’s more, we are proud to announce that the first cohort of students who graduated from our innovative Tech Edge JD program has achieved 100% employment success.
As our remarkable academic year draws to a close, we are looking forward to a special in person commencement ceremony. We are overjoyed that the Honorable Edward J. Davila of the federal district court for the Northern District of California will be our Commencement Speaker and will be receiving a richly-derserved Honorary Degree from the University. Nominated by President Obama in 2011 and confirmed a month later, Judge Davila received his commission in March 2011. He has presided over many cases, including the high-profile U.S. vs Elizabeth Holmes, et al. (i.e “The Theranos Trial”). Outside of his service on the federal judiciary, his prior service as Chair of our Law Advisory Board makes his return to campus all the more meaningful. We cannot wait to bestow upon Judge Davila an Honorary Degree and we look forward to the words of wisdom he will impart on the Class of 2022.
As we rejoice together in our shared achievements, I feel so blessed to be a part of a talented, generous, accomplished, and compassionate community. Thank you for helping us to realize our full potential.
With warm regards and tremendous gratitude,
