Dear Friends,
I hope you all enjoyed the long Easter weekend!
Our beautiful Santa Clara campus is starting to feel like we are out of the depths of Winter and stepping into a new, revived Spring. As I walk around campus, accompanied by the wonderful smell of the blooming wisteria, I am filled with so much gratitude and awe for our community.
For the tireless efforts of the Santa Clara University landscape architects who continue to keep our campus looking its absolute best. For our unmatched faculty and staff educators, who go above and beyond to support our students through their law school journeys. For our students, who continue to inspire us with their dedication and innovative ways of problem-solving. For our alumni community who always show up for their Bronco family in any and every way they can.
This season already has been blossoming with so many exciting events, including the annual Benefit for Justice Celebration and Auction, hosted by the Center for Social Justice and Public Service. The event was a great success thanks to the outstanding student organizers, the amazing student band, almost 200 attendees, Professor David Yosifon who skilfully emceed the event, and the generosity of those who donated and bid on auction items, the proceeds of which will fund summer stipends for students doing social justice and public service work.
We also celebrated Keith Wattley J.D. ’99, at the 2024 Katharine and George Alexander Law Prize Ceremony. As the founder and executive director of UnCommon Law and a Santa Clara Law alumnus, Wattley has been advocating for the rights of people in prison and on parole for more than 20 years where he focuses on helping people transform their lives and demonstrate to the parole board that they can safely be released from their life sentences. It was an honor to be able to recognize Wattley for his outstanding contributions to the legal field and our community.
This past weekend our students were living it up at the Signia Hotel for the annual Barristers Ball. The evening was a huge success and one filled with so much camaraderie among classmates. The SBA also handed out their annual faculty awards, including 1L Professor of the Year: Professor Sue S. Guan, Overall Professor of the Year: Professor Bradley W. Joondeph, and Best Faculty Advocate: Professor Fiona McKenna. Cheers to all of our students and awardees!
April is already blooming with so many exciting things happening on campus, and to kick start the festivities is our 2024 Day of Giving on April 10th. Every year our Bronco community bands together from all over the world to support our students so they can continue to pave the way for future generations of lawyers. We already have some generous matching gifts from our Law Advisory Board members, as well as a new endowed scholarship that will continue the promotion of gender equity and empowerment in tech law for our students. We are so thankful to Santa Clara Law Alumna Mita Datta ‘16, for her generosity and dedication to establishing this endowed scholarship which she hopes will help inspire others to also give back. Please be sure to read more about this scholarship below. With this year’s theme of “Give a Paw, Support Law”, we hope you, your family, and your furry friends will join us for a day of giving back.
On April 16th, the Unhoused Initiative and the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics will host an expert panel to discuss the criminalization of homelessness and the Supreme Court. This term, the Supreme Court will decide whether cities can criminalize sleeping in public when adequate shelter is unavailable. Be sure to register now and join the distinguished panel of experts for a discussion of the implications, featuring Tristia Bauman (Law Foundation of Silicon Valley), Paul Boden (Western Regional Advocacy Project), & Jeff Selbin (Berkeley Law).
Also on the not-so-distant horizon, is commencement! You can feel the buzz building throughout Charney Hall and we couldn’t be prouder of this graduating class. If you are interested in joining us for the ceremony or any of the commencement weekend events–including the liturgical mass and celebration of spirit & excellence–please visit the Law Commencement webpage for more details.
I feel so blessed to be a part of a talented, generous, accomplished, and compassionate community. Thank you all for your unwavering support and dedication to our treasured Bronco family.
With warm regards and tremendous gratitude,
