III
By Adnan Zulfiqar GR’16, L’08, a Sharswood Fellow at Penn Law
T
here is a precise moment after arriving at Penn Law when you take a deep breath, sink back in your seat and embrace being here. It happens in the initial days while you struggle with emotions of excitement, anxiety, fear and anticipation. Like everyone, you feign confidence in anticipation of how “cutthroat” law school is supposed to be. As you sit among peers whose faces are still unfamiliar, a vigorous figure walks to the front of the auditorium, flashes his soonto-be familiar smile and welcomes you to this institution. His authenticity captivates you right away; it is hard for it not to. Maybe it’s his words, or how he expresses himself or simply the unexpected tattoo creeping out from under his sleeve, but there is something genuine about this man. And because he is the Dean of Students, you suddenly feel comfortable in your own skin again. At that moment, every year for many years, Gary Clinton sets the tone for your experience here and beyond. It is no easy task for me to find words to capture what Gary Clinton has meant to Penn Law as an institution and to the individuals that have walked its halls. Law school can be a particularly unsettling time as you
get your bearings, determine how to navigate unfamiliar waters and eventually begin preparing for life after. The atmosphere is built to intimidate: classrooms graded on the curve, run on the Socratic method and filled with colleagues equipped with a drive to excel. Amidst this tumult, Gary is a refuge. A place you can go and reset. His impact is found in a tapestry of stories, many untold, stretching across decades of moments, conversations and interventions that have provided immeasurable support to countless. Not simply on matters relating to your legal education. Students bring all of life’s tribulations to Gary’s doorstep and in return he gives them a listening ear, pearls of wisdom and the proverbial shoulder to lean on. It is a doorstep I visited often. So what is the secret to his success? Aside from his authenticity, Gary possesses a rare gift, one that has proved critical in his time here: the ability to be many things to many people. Students come to Penn Law from a diverse array of backgrounds and circumstances in pursuit of many paths. For some, their identity places them in the minority and law school’s challenges are coupled with seeking to preserve one’s own sense of self. Gary understands this in profound ways even when the
MAGNETIC
WELCOMING
JOYFUL
ENERGETIC
GENUINE