Commencement 2017

On Thursday, May 25, the Harvard Law School Class of 2017 braved the rain to pick up their diplomas and officially become HLS graduates. Here's a look at their day of celebration with family, friends and a steady supply of rain ponchos.

Harvard Law School’s 2017 Class Day ceremony featured speeches by Sally Yates, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, and Harvard Law School Professor Mark Wu, winner of the 2017 Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence.

Sally Yates, the acting attorney general whom President Trump fired for refusing to enforce his tightened strictures on entering the country, said Wednesday that she acted out of a belief that defending the executive order would have meant falsely claiming it was not directed at Muslims.

A number of Harvard Law students from the Class of 2017 received special awards during Class Day. They were recognized for their outstanding leadership, citizenship, compassion and dedication to their studies and the profession.

Members of the Harvard Law School Class of 2017 gathered this week for two days of Commencement festivities which featured an address by former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, a send-off from Dean Martha Minow, and accolades bestowed on students, staff and faculty including Mark Wu, who was honored by the Class of 2017 with the Sacks-Freund award for Teaching Excellence.

The subject of Konstantin Tretyakov’s doctoral thesis, the “right to die” and how it is handled in different countries, would be a fascinating one under any circumstances. But as a Russian student who has also studied Chinese law, Tretyakov brings a unique perspective to the topic.

Gloria Scott LL.M. ’17, who is from Liberia, served as chief justice of her country’s Supreme Court from 1997 to 2003. She has also been a practicing lawyer, a senator, and most recently, the chair of Liberia’s Constitutional Review Committee. But for the past year she has been eager to be a student again.

For five years in the Army, including one in Afghanistan, David E. White Jr. was zealous about leadership and public service. At Harvard Law School, he added to his passionate pursuits. “At the end of the day, it’s about justice,” said White, J.D. ’17. “In everything I pursue, my goal is to do justice.”

You would never know it from her unhesitating, responsive arguments in the Ames Courtroom, but when Amanda Mundell ’17 was growing up in California she dreaded giving presentations in class. “I was a very nervous speaker,” she remembers, “so I decided that I was never going to do anything like this.

For Trenton Van Oss ’17, coming to Harvard Law School meant adapting to a different culture and experience as a student who had been educated at Christian schools, and whose strong allegiance to the GOP put him in a distinct minority at a secular school with a predominantly liberal student body and faculty.

As he prepares to graduate, Mario Nguyên ’17 can stand as an example as someone who has overcome hardship and doubt, who has achieved more than he ever thought possible and plans to achieve much more. He will soon begin a job at a firm in his native Texas, with a goal of using his legal skills to bring about systemic change to benefit disadvantaged and marginalized people.

Sally Yates, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, will be this year’s speaker for the Class Day ceremonies at Harvard Law School.