2 minute read
IN BRIEF
AUWCL Celebrates 2021 and 2020 Graduates during Spring Commencement Virtual Celebration and In-Person Procession
The law school celebrated more than 500 graduates May 23 with a virtual ceremony and the law school’s first in-person commencement events since the COVID-19 pandemic began, honoring graduates from May 2021 and December and August 2020.
Advertisement
Commencement speaker Congressman Jamie Raskin, professor emeritus at AUWCL where he taught Constitutional Law for more than a quarter century, told the graduates to “go and use the magnificent education” they had received at AUWCL. AU President Sylvia M. Burwell and Acting Provost Peter Starr applauded graduates during the commencement celebration before presenting Raskin with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
The ceremony also featured a commencement address by graduate Joy Applewhite ’21. Anna Isernia ’21 sang the national anthem, and Veronica Faison ’21 sang “Lift Every Voice.”
“Although the period from March 2020 until now will be one that you and we will never forget, recognize that your legal education has encompassed a full three or four years in which you have had the opportunity to learn and hone your critical thinking, doctrinal knowledge, lawyering skills, capacity to learn, and professional values that will stand you in good stead throughout your legal careers,” former Acting Dean Robert Dinerstein emphasized in his virtual address.
About 325 graduates from both 2020 and 2021 took part in processions, crossing the stage in AU’s Bender Arena where they were welcomed by Dinerstein, Burwell, Starr, and Vice President of Campus Life Fanta Aw. Mother-daughter team Haley Magwood ’20, a JD graduate, and Robin Magwood ’21, a graduate of AUWCL’s Master’s in Legal Studies program, crossed the stage in tandem.
– FORMER ACTING DEAN ROBERT DINERSTEIN
