Dear Friends,

Wishing you all and your loved ones a Happy Diwali, filled with light, joy, and love!

In that same joyful spirit of light and love, Santa Clara University will soon celebrate Jesuit Heritage Week (October 26 – November 1, 2025).  As Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., Vice President for Mission and Ministry, shared: "This celebration is a time to reflect on the many ways we live out our Jesuit mission and values, the Catholic intellectual tradition, and our ongoing commitment to building a more just, humane, and sustainable world for all." I invite all members of our law school community to participate in the celebration through community gatherings and personal reflection, including the Bannan Memorial Lecture (Oct. 28), the Red Mass (Oct. 30), and the next Dean's Democracy Series forum: Guardians Beyond Government (Oct. 29).  

In keeping with the spirit of Diwali and Jesuit Heritage Week, I also encourage you all to read this thought-provoking article by Former Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor and Dr. Amy Uelman, Georgetown University Director for Mission & Ministry:  Religious Freedom, Jesuit Mission, and DEI (Jesuit Educational Quarterly, Special issue on "Legal Education and the Society of Jesus," Spring 2026). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5553978 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5553978  

After rigorously analyzing profound principles of Jesuit spirituality and Catholic Social Thought, they show that  our “particularized attention and care for the growth and development of those who have been historically excluded or who have suffered from discrimination is not a zero-sum game but an opportunity for the harmonious growth of the entire community and all of its participants.” Our concrete steps to “sustain learning environments that encourage the encounter with even deep differences help to foster the settings that lead to the kind of growth and insight that inspire and drive the core of [our] mission.” That mission teaches us that the path forward is not to cower in hate; it is “to grow in love.” 

Reflecting on this year's Jesuit Heritage theme, Faith that Does Justice, I am reminded of the important work that you all do to advance our mission-driven vision for legal education, rooted in justice, ethics, service, and love. Led by our Center for Social Justice and Public Service and our remarkable students, our signature Pro Bono week is one of many examples of our mission in action. We also recently had a wonderful opportunity to experience this commitment to our mission in action at the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) Justice All Gala. Together, we honored exonerees whose lives were unjustly impacted by wrongful convictions and whose stories transform our understanding of accompaniment, truth, and just mercy. We also celebrated the dedicated and tireless advocates and supporters who faithfully lift up exonerees in the courtrooms and beyond. Congratulations and heartfelt thanks to Catherine Boyle, Champion of Justice Award Recipient, and Exonerated Nation for receiving the Quedellis "Rick" Walker Spirit Award. 

Our active commitment to a faith that does justice is global in its reach. Inspired by Pope Francis's call to the academic community to promote understanding of migrants and refugees, Santa Clara Law Professor Anna Benvenue recently traveled to Rome to take part in a transformative global initiative: Refugees & Migrants in Our Common Home. At the Vatican in Sala Clementina, Professor Benvenue and the group were honored by an audience with Pope Leo XIV, during which the Pope personally encouraged them “to confront the globalization of powerlessness by fostering a culture of reconciliation" and reminded them that "if efforts to work for lasting change are to succeed, they must include ways to touch hearts and minds." 

Our Santa Clara Law education clearly has touched the “hearts and minds” of generations of graduates who have gone forth to lead lives of great prominence and purpose. At our extraordinary Grand Law Reunion, a record-breaking number of alumni, faculty, and friends came together to celebrate our shared past and collaborative future, including our High Tech Law Institute graduates and our 19 Ruffo Golden Gavel Society inductees such as Zoe Lofgren '75 who celebrated their Class of 1975 50-year reunion. 

The #1 song from 1975 was “Love Will Keep Us Together,” which served as an important theme for the evening and a tribute to the abiding love which Santa Clara Law classmates have for each other, for our law school community, and for the clients and the communities they serve. 

I look forward to continuing to advance our enduring mission with you throughout Jesuit Heritage Week and beyond. Thank you for the important work you do every day to promote truth, justice, and human flourishing within the Santa Clara Law community and in the world. You are a “row of lamps” that bring our values to life and your “love will keep us together.”

With warm regards and tremendous gratitude,

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