| UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
JAMES E. ROGERS COLLEGE OF LAW |
March 9, 2022 | | |
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March 14
Mundheim Speaker Series: Michael Sharp
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Greetings,
Today we celebrate the Class of 2020, who belatedly — and joyfully —celebrated their graduation with us over the weekend.
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Until the footnotes,
Marc
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Two Years After Precipitous Lockdown, Class of 2020 Returns to Celebrate Achievements and Friendship | |
Last Saturday the college welcomed 29 alumni from the Class of 2020 back to campus, giving them a long-awaited chance to don graduation garb, get pictures and catch up with friends.
Two years ago this week, members of this class—who had planned on finishing their studies and capping their year with a traditional ceremony—instead returned from Spring Break to the virtual classroom and no possibility of celebrating their final days as law students together and in-person.
While the University of Arizona held a larger ceremony for 2020 graduates in Fall 2021, College of Law alumni wanted a smaller, separate occasion with friends, reflecting the close bonds typical of Arizona Law classes. About 90 guests attended an afternoon ceremony and reception.
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Each graduate had the opportunity to speak about the historic circumstances of leaving law school, sitting for the bar exam and moving into changed professional environments.
Karen Donderewicz, who served as the 2019-20 Student Bar Association, wrote:
"The Class of 2020 had no idea the journey it would take to finally put on our caps and gowns nearly two years after we left for Spring Break. In 2020, it was like waving goodbye to your family not knowing it would be the last time you'd embrace each other. Sure, there was Zoom. But, there were no late night coffee breaks or quick dinner while studying for the bar. It was actual solitude. During the bar, we were quickly reminded that we were still in the middle of a pandemic because there were masks on our faces and temperature checks on the way in.
Reflecting back on this journey and seeing my friends faces at graduation reminded me that no matter what challenges the Class of 2020 face, we will always be resilient and we will always have each other. Most importantly, we know how to Bear Down!!"
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Senior Director of Development & Alumni Relations Megan O’Leary and I are in Las Vegas to help paint the Las Vegas Strip red and blue during the Men's PAC-12 Basketball Tournament, starting today.
Join Arizona Law and the Eller College of Management for a special alumni reception in Las Vegas on Friday, March 11 at 11am. RSVP for the reception here.
Bear Down!
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Jan-Werner Müller speaks as part of the Pitt Family Foundation Speaker Series on March 31
The popular Pitt Family Foundation Speaker Series continues on Thursday, March 31, at 5:30 p.m. with Jan-Werner Müller.
Müller is a professor of politics at Princeton University, where he also directs the Project in the History of Political Thought. His previous books include What is Populism? and Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe. He writes for the Guardian, the London Review of Books, and The New York Review of Books. In his latest book, Democracy Rules, Professor Müller that we need to re-invigorate the intermediary institutions that have been deemed essential for democracy’s success ever since the nineteenth century: political parties and free media.
The Pitt Family Foundation Speaker Series is part of the Participatory Democracy Initiative at the University of Arizona. The Participatory Democracy Initiative is an interdisciplinary and community-engaged program of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, the School of Government & Public Policy, and the School of Journalism.
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The last few classes, like our whole community, have wrestled with times no one predicted. For the 2020 graduates, the end of their law school experience was suddenly transformed.
The lessons of that time will be lifelong. The graduation we held last Saturday — for those who were there -- and I hope for others in the class and our community — offered some closure, much joy, and a sense of our educational and professional worlds, at least, entering a new, steadier time.
Congratulations, again, to each 2020 graduate, and thank you for leadership, patience and grace you demonstrated for us all.
Warmly,
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