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The Washington and Lee University School of Law celebrated its 168th commencement on Friday, May 12, awarding 106 juris doctor degrees.
W&L President Will Dudley welcomed the graduates and their families gathered on the front lawn between the University Chapel and the Colonnade, an apt setting for remarks that were rich in the recollection of the law school’s long history as well as the history of this particular class. Dudley noted that the law class of 2023 arrived in the fall of 2020, when the pandemic was in full swing, and he complimented them for persevering through a first year of law school unlike any before it.
“The tradition of excellence at the Washington and Lee School of Law stretches backward more than 150 years, but it also aspires ever forward, in keeping with our motto — non incautus future — not unmindful of the future,” said Dudley. “You are all a part of this tradition. Take W&L — the place, the people, and the lessons learned — with you, into the world, and you and the world will be better for it.”
Melanie D. Wilson, dean of the law school, followed Dudley to the podium. Wilson recounted by name many of the students and accomplishments that she would remember from her first year leading the law school.
“This class exhibits a rare community spirit mixed with kindness and tenacity that has allowed you to traverse three really tough years under unusual conditions,” said Wilson. “And that journey makes this day all the more special.”
After the graduates were awarded their degrees, Wilson introduced Justice Cleo Powell as this year’s commencement speaker. A trailblazer throughout her career, Powell was the first Black woman elected to the commonwealth’s highest court and the first Black woman to serve at every level of Virginia’s state court system, beginning in 1992 when she joined the 12th Judicial Circuit as a general district and circuit judge in Chesterfield County. She was named to the Virginia Court of Appeals in 2008 and then was elected by the Virginia legislature to the Supreme Court in 2011.
Justice Powell noted at the outset of her speech that “few things give me as much pleasure as watching new lawyers join the profession that has brought me so much satisfaction for the past 41 years.”
But as satisfying as that career has been, Powell cautioned that the law class of 2023 enters the profession during a challenging time for the nation, a time marked by the inability to communicate and growing lack of tolerance. However, she also noted that lawyers are uniquely trained for this environment.
“And as you deal with your client’s issues, you will have an opportunity and an obligation to lower the volume on the clamoring noise, to calm their fears, to reintroduce civility, to bring reason to bear,” said Powell.
Justice Powell also acknowledged the shifting terrain of the law, with once settled law becoming disturbed as a new generation of lawyers looks at the world through a different lens, even as they do their sworn duty to uphold the rule of law.
“I challenge you to so live that in years to come you will look back and see your fingerprints all over a world left better because you were in it,” she said.
Following Thomas’s remarks, third-year class officers Ann Katherine Sherman and Wade Brelin presented Justice Powell with a walking stick, traditionally given to students at the awards ceremony preceding graduation. The walking stick, or cane, originated in the 1920s as a way to distinguish third-year law students on campus. At that time, only two years of law school were required, and the walking stick served as a way to reward and honor those students who stayed for a third year.
Graduation festivities began Thursday with the annual awards ceremony, which was held in Holekamp Gym. Three students graduated summa cum laude, 16 graduated magna cum laude, and 14 graduated cum laude. Eleven students were named to Order of the Coif, an honorary scholastic society that encourages excellence in legal education. A list of honors and awards appears below.
The Student Bar Association Teacher of the Year and Staff Member of the Year award were also presented at the awards ceremony. Allison Weiss was named Teacher of the Year, and Jane Pultz won the staff award.
