As the academic year drew to a close and graduation approached, I asked the Class of 2008 to share with me their reflections on law school. My email inbox was flooded with moving responses. I was touched by their expressions of gratitude for all the law school gave them: "a sense of confidence and heightened self-esteem," "a chance to live the law school's mission of educating minds and hearts to change the world," "a solid set of values to take into the working world." And this extraordinary story: "I've learned to be a better person by fighting for those who cannot fend for themselves," said one graduate whose family walked 600 miles out of the Cambodian jungle fleeing the Khmer Rouge, which surely explains her returning to Cambodia last summer to study war crimes and caring for six orphans she found living in a garbage dump in Phnom Penh. But what most moves and inspires are the graduates' instincts about the essence of lawyering and their clarion call for action. Like those who came before them, the newest members of the USF Law Society understand that a law degree comes with a duty to act courageously and with integrity in the promotion of justice. I, for one, am encouraged to welcome these 240 men and women as partners and colleagues in the pursuit of justice.
- Dean Jeff Brand