Commencement

Deval Patrick `82, who recently concluded two terms as the 71st governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, was Harvard’s 2015 commencement speaker.

In this video, first shown during HLS Commencement ceremonies on May 28, 2015,  students look back on their unique experiences and shared journey at Harvard Law School.

Dean Martha Minow applauded the many accomplishments of Class of 2015 and she praised their activism against injustice: “You led teach-ins, die-ins, and active mobilization in response to police shootings and racial injustice, and participated in criminal justice reform work. Your work changes lives,” she told the graduates.

Harvard Law School’s 2015 Class Day ceremony featured speeches by Gabrielle Giffords, former U.S. Representative from Arizona, and her husband Mark Kelly, a Navy pilot and NASA astronaut, and Harvard Law School Professor Jon Hanson, winner of the 2015 Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence. A number of Harvard Law students from the Class of ’15 received special awards for their outstanding leadership, citizenship, compassion and dedication to their studies and the profession.

A number of Harvard Law students from the Class of ’15 received special awards this year during the 2015 Class Day ceremony on May 27. The students were recognized for their outstanding leadership, citizenship, compassion and dedication to their studies and the profession.

Four years ago, then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, was shot in the head and gravely wounded by a gunman in a mass shooting outside a Tucson supermarket. Most people who suffer such an injury don’t survive, as her husband, Mark Kelly, pointed out. But Giffords fought back. On Wednesday, taking the podium to a standing ovation at Class Day exercises for Harvard Law School, she urged the students to action.

This year, more than 750 students will receive degrees from Harvard Law School. Each brought unique experiences to law school and all have tailored their academic careers while at HLS to explore their individual interests. As they prepare to graduate, several members of the Harvard Law School Class of 2015 reflect on the interests they brought to law school and the experiences they will take from their time at Harvard Law.

This year’s Andrew L. Kaufman Pro Bono Service Award was presented to Chad Baker, honored for demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to improving and delivering high quality volunteer legal services to disadvantaged communities. Baker contributed over 2000 pro bono hours working with the Tenant Advocacy Project, the Prison Legal Assistance Project, and the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

Christopher Melendez ’15 received the Outstanding Clinical Student Award from the Clinical Legal Education Association. The award is presented annually to one student from each law school in recognition of outstanding clinical coursework and contributions to the clinical community.

Harvard Law School’s Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs has recognized graduating students Seth Hoedl ’15 and Seth Packrone ’15 for exemplifying putting theory into practice through clinical work.

In a way, the seeds of Victoria White-Mason’s activism were planted long before she was born. Her grandfather was the first black man to graduate from Duke University, where he faced prejudice and discrimination. Her great-grandfather operated a business in Durham, N.C.’s Hayti district, a thriving African-American community during a time of segregation. Her family history helped raise her awareness of racial injustice and also the strength of black people in the face of adversity.

Growing up in Montana with a mother who owned a horse farm, Sean Morrison ’15 found his tax attorney father’s line of work a bit dull by comparison. So Morrison is a little surprised to find himself, years later, graduating from law school with the intent to specialize in tax law and policy.

As he prepares to finish his LL.M. year at Harvard Law, Lor Sok recalls all the benefits the experience has provided him. But the real test of the experience, he says, is what it will mean for Cambodia, his homeland.

At a time when right-to-work laws, which severely threaten the viability of workers’ unions, seem to be gaining in popularity, Antonia Domingo ’15 is something of a rare creature: a fervently pro-union loyalist.

Romeen Sheth ’15 is a team player who works well with others--not because he has to, but because he prefers to, and he wishes more lawyers felt the same way.

Gabrielle Giffords, former U.S. Representative from Arizona, and her husband Mark Kelly, a Navy pilot and NASA astronaut, will be this year’s speakers for the Class Day ceremonies at Harvard Law School. Class Day will take place on Wednesday, May 27, 2015.

“We searched the world for each and every one of you—and you have exceeded our hopes,” Minow told the Class of 2014, which included 576 J.D.s; 167 LL.M.s; and 7 SJDs.