- President Hamilton,
fellow faculty, trustees,
family, friends, guests, and especially,
the graduating class of 2018, welcome.
(audience applauding)
(audience cheering)
Graduates, we are here
today to celebrate you.
All of us at NYU Law take great pride
in your accomplishments
and I hope you do too.
You worked hard during
your time at Law School,
and along the way you enriched
our community in countless ways as well.
So congratulations on
what you've achieved.
(audience applauding)
Now we are also here to
join you, our graduates,
in thanking your family and friends
who supported you along the way.
Law School is not easy.
It's not supposed to be easy.
So I'm sure our graduates want
to express their gratitude
to their loved ones who are here today
to celebrate with them,
shall we say thank you?
(audience applauding)
(audience cheering)
Graduates, you now stand poised to launch
into your post-law school careers
and there really is no limit
to what you can achieve.
Today I'd like to take just a few moments
to offer some thoughts
on the professional roles
you'll be assuming after you graduate,
and the values that
you will bring to them.
Through your studies at the Law School,
you have learned the law.
What it is, how it has evolved,
what its limitations are,
which institutions drive its
development and enforcement,
and how to influence them.
You've also, I hope, honed
your ability to think
critically and creatively
about how to use the law
to solve difficult problems.
There is no shortage of
deeply vexing challenges
in today's world and
virtually all of them have
some legal element to them.
Your education has given you
the keys and the language
to be effective in rare spaces
where decisions are made
that affect every member of our society.
You have the opportunity
to lead in those spaces.
Now most of you will at
least begin your careers
working in context that
involve the representation
of specific clients, be they individuals,
corporations, or other organizations.
And in doing so, you will
use the law to advance
and protect the interests of your clients
within the limits of the law.
That is deeply honorable work.
Indeed, it is what being
a lawyer is all about.
Just as importantly, being
a lawyer also involves
contributing to the broader public good.
Lawyers advance and
protect both the interests
of their clients and
the broader rule of law.
That rule of law depends on lawyers
because people involved in the
legal system require lawyers.
And for that reason lawyers
carry a special obligation
to ensure that legal representation
is available to all who need it.
Now to put it mildly,
honoring that obligation
is a work-in-progress in this country.
Although people like our
colleague Bryan Stevenson,
today's keynote speaker,
are pushing things in the right direction,
we are not yet anywhere near
the point where high quality
legal representation is truly
accessible to all who need it.
At the same time I am
inspired by the work that you,
our graduates, have already done
to make things better on this front.
Between your summer
public interest positions,
your work in Law School clinics,
your service trips over school
breaks and other activities,
each of you on average has
completed over 325 hours
of pro bono work while in Law School.
(audience applauding)
NYU Law conceives of itself
as a private institution
in the public service
and during your time here
you have lived our public-minded ethos.
I urge you to hold onto that ethos
and to carry it forward in your careers.
I want to urge you to do
something else as well.
As you apply your legal
expertise for the benefit
of your clients, whether
paying or pro bono,
private sector or public, I
hope you will bear in mind
that true leadership often
requires consideration,
not just of the law itself,
but also of related,
yet distinct matters of morality, ethics,
sound policy, and plain commonsense.
Your clients will rely upon you to help
solve their problems
or advance their plans.
And you can't do that without providing
the kind of outstanding legal advice
that I know you are able to render.
But often, it doesn't stop there.
The best lawyers are relied
upon by their clients
as trusted counselors who can advise them,
not just on what the
law requires, permits,
and forbids, but on what is prudent,
on what is ethical, what
is wise, what is just.
Especially when it comes to thinking
about the responsibilities
of powerful institutions,
whether private corporations
or government agencies.
The very ubiquity of the
law can sometimes generate
the notion that as long as a
particular course of action
is not illegal, it must be sound.
As long as this business strategy
or that regulatory intervention is within
the technical limits of the
law, it must be a good idea.
Or when it comes to individuals,
as long as I have the legal
right to do or to say something,
it must be sensible for
me to do or to say it.
I hope you will resist
this kind of thinking.
That a particular course
of action is legal
does not necessarily
make it wise or ethical.
And solving the most difficult
problems in the world today
requires more than simply
adhering to the formal limits
of the law, it requires
asking and doing our best
to answer questions about what solutions
are not only legal, but also
sound as a matter of policy,
not only legal, but also ethical,
not only legal, but also just.
Now it may strike you as
strange that on the day
you're graduating from Law School,
the dean is emphasizing the importance
of looking beyond the law,
but I don't say this out
of any disdain for the law,
far from it.
As I said earlier, the
training you have received here
has equipped you to help solve
some of the most complicated
and intractable problems in human society.
The legal dimensions to those problems
are why lawyers must be
involved in tackling them.
But in almost all cases,
there will be aspects of the issue
that are not purely legal.
And the same skills of critical thinking,
analytical reasoning, problem solving,
and plain dogged advocacy
that we have helped you hone
here at NYU can help
you tackle the nonlegal
as well as the legal
dimensions of these problems.
That expertise can also help you determine
when your own skills are not
enough to solve the problem,
and when you therefore
need to bring others
with different capabilities onto the team.
This too is a key to effective leadership.
Today, both in this country
and around the world,
we need a renewed commitment to leadership
that respects the limits
of the law to be sure,
but that also accepts and even embraces
the teachings of prudence,
ethics, and morality.
We need lawyers who approach
their work with humanity
and respect, whether
they're clients, opponents,
or the people working to
support the institutions
with which they engage.
It is within your power
to advance this vision
and to deliver this leadership,
and I hope you will.
Now it's a cliche on days
like today to tell graduates
that the future is in your
hands, but it's also true.
It is indeed up to you
to shape the future.
And in a world full of challenges,
I am optimistic because
I have confidence in you.
I can't wait to see what you'll do.
With that said, the future
can wait until tomorrow.
(audience laughing)
Today is for celebrating and members
of the NYU Class of
2018, you have done it.
Congratulations, bravo, and thank you.
(audience applauding)
(audience cheering)
- [Announcer] Thank you Dean Morrison.
Now please welcome Anthony
Welters, Class of 1977,
and Chairman of the Board of Trustees
of New York University School of Law.
(audience applauding)
- Good morning.
I always start off my
conversation reminding everyone
that but for the parents,
the significant others,
the family members and the friends,
for you the graduates, this
day would not be a reality.
So let's take a moment
to applaud all those
who made your day possible.
(audience applauding)
(audience cheering)
On behalf of the Board of
Trustees, I welcome you all.
And to this extraordinary faculty,
we all owe a debt of gratitude.
So once again, let's
acknowledge our faculty.
(audience applauding)
I'm gonna close with an ask
that I normally will not do.
But I'm reminded by many
that our democracy is not guarantee.
Indeed, many of us have
taken it for granted.
We have a moral obligation
to protect our democracy.
I ask of everyone in the audience
over the course of the next 12 months,
try to meet someone
who's different from you.
Not from your geographic region,
not someone who shares
your political ideology,
but they share a belief in our democracy.
And try to understand
their perspective on life
and on values.
If we all fail to do that,
our democracy is at risk.
The good news is that we're all capable
of protecting our democracy,
especially you graduates.
Godspeed to all of you.
(audience applauding)
- [Announcer] Thank you Chairman Welters.
Now please welcome Andrew Hamilton,
President of New York University
to address the graduates on
behalf of the University.
(audience applauding)
- Dean Morrison,
colleagues, family, friends,
and most of all, the
outstanding School of Law
JD graduates of 2018,
congratulations to you all.
(audience applauding)
- You will have to forgive me everyone
if I sound a little out of breath
because I've just rushed
from the graduation ceremony
of the College of Arts and
Science at Radio City Music Hall,
and after the Law School ceremony,
I will be rushing to the Lincoln Center
for the Gallatin School
graduation ceremony.
But right at this moment
I am standing on the stage
of Madison Square Garden
and who was standing
on this very stage last week?
John Bon Jovi, and,
I am really, really tempted
to break into, "Whoa,
we're halfway there."
However, it would be wholly inappropriate
because you're not halfway
there, you've made it!
You've got to the end.
(audience cheering)
(audience applauding)
However, I never thought I
would be able to say this,
but I bet John Bon Jovi is jealous of me.
He has never played Radio City Music Hall,
Madison Square Garden, and Lincoln Center
in one day, as I have.
(audience laughing)
(audience applauding)
But it's wonderful to be here.
I feel a very special presence.
I feel a very special honor
to be here with you all
this morning and you all know
my name, Andrew Hamilton.
Well I hope all of you
graduating students know
that that is a very storied name
in the history of American law
because Andrew Hamilton was the first,
the quintessential Philadelphia lawyer
who argued one of the most important cases
in early free speech law in 1735,
the so called Zenger case,
where he established that truth
could be a defense against liable.
And so, to bear the name Andrew Hamilton
is to have a link to all
of you graduating lawyers
on this special, special morning.
And let me say, what a
special morning it is.
What a special group you are.
Your years at NYU, this year
particularly as you graduate,
they have been special ones,
this is a special year.
You are celebrating 125 years
of admitting women to the
School of Law this year.
(audience cheering)
(audience applauding)
Graduates would go on to
include the co-founder
of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The first woman to serve as Chief Judge
of New York State's highest court.
And the first Latina partner
at Cravath, Swaine, and Moore.
(audience applauding)
You, you are all admirably committed
as we heard from Dean Morrison,
to public service with five graduates
named as Skadden Fellows this year,
allowing them to work at a range
of public interest organizations.
Public service is a
passion for your faculty,
whether it's Kim
Taylor-Thompson, who this year,
won Distinguished-- (audience applauding)
She won the Distinguished Teaching Award.
It was a great honor for me to present it
to her a few days ago.
And Bryan Stevenson, who
just-- (audience cheering)
Just yesterday in that very damp,
but wonderful ceremony at Yankee Stadium,
we awarded Bryan an Honorary Doctorate
at the Commencement Ceremony.
And in between all of these amazing
academic achievements
of students and faculty,
you are also no slouches
on the basketball court.
(audience laughing)
And once again, you have
defeated Columbia Law,
the second year in a row,
long may that continue!
(audience cheering)
(audience applauding)
Graduating students, you
have had unique opportunities
during your time at NYU.
Your graduate school days took place
against the most stunning
urban backdrop on Earth.
You studied with top scholars
and practitioners in your fields.
You gained experience at
world class law firms,
corporations, banks, nonprofits,
and cultural organizations.
You extended your studies abroad
at Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai.
In short, you all chose a university
of unparalleled opportunity,
and you've made the most of it
to reach your fullest potential.
The NYU Law community contributes so much
to this university, this
city, and to our world.
And I for one can't wait to see
where your paths take you next,
to see the many ways
in which you all go out
into the world and make it a better place.
And so, to every one of you this morning,
this joyous morning, know that
you take the very warmest,
best wishes from my wife Jennie and me,
for your future careers and lives.
But more than that, you
take with you the pride,
and the warmest congratulations
of the entire NYU community
for your achievements and we look forward
to your successes in the years to come.
Congratulations JD Class
of 2018, well done!
(audience applauding)
- [Announcer] Thank
you President Hamilton.
We now welcome Cassarah M. Chu,
(audience cheering)
(audience applauding)
the voice of the Class of 2018,
to address her fellow graduates.
(audience cheering)
- Surprise Mom and Dad.
Now you know why no one
would hand you a program.
Class of 2018, what a time, what a life.
Congratulations, we made it.
In reflecting on my
experience in Law School
and engaging with all of you about yours,
I found that every student at NYU Law
grapples with something I like
to call the doubt spectrum.
On one end of the doubt spectrum,
there is way too much self-doubt,
and we're probably not
very good to ourselves.
On the other end of the spectrum,
there is way too little doubt,
and we're probably not
very good to other people.
Law School in so many ways was an exercise
in adjusting ourselves on this spectrum.
Each time we were
cold-called or got grades.
(audience laughing)
Each time we applied for clinics,
leadership positions,
fellowships, or jobs.
Each time we advocated for clients
in orgs or in our clinics.
These and all the other
moments in Law School
where we decided to put
ourselves out there,
these moments were glimpses into where
we saw ourselves on the doubt spectrum.
Now, we graduates are at a very special
juncture of our lives.
As we celebrate the end of Law School,
and our entrance into
the legal profession,
we have the incredible opportunity
of reflecting and
introspecting on which moments
in Law School gave us pause and doubt.
We get to think about
how we carried ourselves
in those situations.
And we get to think about how
we want to handle ourselves
on the doubt spectrum
during our lives in the law.
Being near either of these
extremes is pretty unpleasant.
And being at those
extremes can get in the way
of us being the incredible
lawyers and humans
that we're meant to be
and that this world needs.
So, as we encounter the doubt spectrum
in our legal profession, what do we do?
I would like to encourage
the Class of 2018
to do two things.
First, trust yourself, and
second, be honest with yourself.
What does trusting ourselves
and being honest with ourselves look like?
For some of us it's a matter of escaping
the imposter syndrome
that has sunk in too deep,
and trusting our ability
and contribution to spaces.
Words by the poet Nayyirah Waheed
are particularly salient here.
Nayyirah wrote, "When I'm
afraid to speak is when I speak,
"that is what is most important."
For others of us, being
honest with ourselves
will be a matter of interrogating.
Do I need to center my voice
over others at this precise moment?
Am I truly the right person
or lawyer for this role?
Or, do I have the
wherewithal, and importantly,
the courage to live out the difference
between knowing when
it is time to show up,
and when it is time to step back.
Being honest means doing
the work of engaging
where we are on the doubt spectrum.
If you're on the self-doubt end,
identify when your insecurities
are holding you back
and preventing you from the light
that we all know you can be.
And if you're on the self-aggrandize end,
do the work of assessing
how you're limiting
the others around you.
Now I know these are really big asks,
but I know all of you are
definitely up to the task.
And the nice thing about
doing this hard work
is that we aren't alone in it.
None of us got to be who we
are, and where we are, alone.
And we are truly, truly
grateful to all of our mentors,
our friends, and our family who are here
in the audience today holding us up.
(audience applauding)
Now, you've done a lot for
us and the one downside
of being so great about supporting us,
is that we tend to express our thanks
by asking you for more.
So, as we graduate, we
invite those in the audience
to continue holding us up and to help us
throughout our careers
and throughout our lives,
as we strive to trust ourselves
and to be honest with ourselves.
The Class of 2018 is a beautiful
amalgamation of people.
Each of us through our varied
exposure to different classes,
organizations, scholarship, mentors,
employment opportunities, and
interactions with one another,
through our varied experiences
on the doubt spectrum.
Each of us have so much
to offer this profession,
this nation, and this world.
My aspirations for all that
we are and all that we can do
is matched only by my faith in us.
NYU Law Class of 2018, congratulations.
(audience cheering)
(audience applauding)
