UCI Law Video: Class of 2021 Tenth Commencement Ceremony
IRVINE, Calif. (May 10, 2021) — The University of California, Irvine School of Law (UCI Law) celebrated the Class of 2021 with a virtual commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 8, 2021. This was UCI Law’s largest graduating class ever – with more than 240 students participating in this year’s ceremony. The outstanding students who make up the Class of 2021 personify the Law School’s commitment to public service:
- More than 90 percent of the Class of 2021 participated in pro bono work, collectively completing more than 20,000 pro bono hours (thousands more than any other class).
- Approximately 35 percent (72 students) will be graduating with Pro Bono Honors — and 46 of those students will be graduating with Pro Bono High Honors.
The ceremony included remarks from a number of individuals, whose speeches appear in the following order:
- UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman
- 00:00 to 4:28
- “For the sake of all of us, and for the sake of the very idea of the rule of law as an unqualified human good, I urge you to make decisions as professionals that give the law the glory and legitimacy that it deserves. Connect it to the people. Connect it to justice. Connect it to our aspirations. You are rightly viewed as leaders of the legal profession in one of the world’s great democracies. You can have no more important responsibility than to get this right. We’re counting on you, and we know that we can count on you.”
- Claire Anderson, LL.M. Class of 2021
- 8:11 to 10:19
- “As we transition into the next stage of our careers, it has never been more important to take the value of support and community and take it into the legal profession and into the world at large. This world has never needed a kind hand as much as it does now.”
- Youjia Xie, Graduate Tax Program Class of 2021
- 11:42 to 14:45
- “All of the members of the tax program come from different states, even different countries. We all have different backgrounds and we all have different interests. But, there is one thing we have in common – that is the love and passion for tax law.”
- Jamison Whiting, J.D. Class of 2021
- 16:14 to 20:57
- “This class, the 10th graduating class of UCI Law, has always done the incredible. We could talk about their tens of thousands of pro bono hours committed to serving the most vulnerable, or their generous donations to a city reeling from civil unrest after another murder of an unarmed Black man, or even submitting their briefs to our nation’s highest court. These are not, however, their greatest achievements. My classmates are changing the world every day by the simple act of their kindness. This kindness has flourished, even in the face of so many challenges, so many hurdles, so many unexpected speedbumps along the way, and yet here they are coming back every day with a renewed commitment to change our small part of the world. Many would end with a call to change the world. I’m not going to tell you to change the world, because you already are. I’m going to ask you to keep changing the world because you always have.”
- UCI Law Assistant Professor of Law Swethaa Ballakrishnen
- 23:11 to 30:12
- “Most things are not good or bad. They’re often good and bad. And it’s that complicated, terrifying juxtaposition that demands our criticality. What you do with this time and the lessons it offers you can be really revealing. Of course, no version of figuring that out is going to be easy. So my first real note to you is to expect discomfort. Prepare for resistance during this process of becoming who you are and trying to figure out what sticks and what doesn’t.”
- U.S. Congresswomen Katie Porter (D-CA 45th
- 31:58 to 41:54
- “As lawyers, you have the hard-won privilege to decide to get angry on someone’s behalf and to do something about it. Use that power. As of today, it’s yours. Anyone can do something easy, but you who we celebrate today, have earned the right to do something important.”
- UCI Law Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law L. Song Richardson
- 1:20:33 to 1:27:38
- “You didn’t let this global pandemic defeat you. You continued your commitment to public service, and you continued to fight on behalf of the most vulnerable in our communities, including in our own UCI Law community. You continued to speak out about important issues instead of remaining silent. And, you continued your commitment to your values even when it would have been so easy to let them go. The true measure of the strength of any community and any individual is not how they act and the things they do when things are going well, but rather in how they act and the things they do when times are challenging. And you, Class of 2021, you have demonstrated the strength, resilience, grit, compassion and kindness that define our UCI Law community. You dared greatly.”
Watch the full commencement ceremony video:
2021 Law School Commencement from UCI Media on Vimeo.