LAW BRIEFS
C H AR L ES B AR RY
2017 Law Commencement
One of Santa Clara Law’s most distinguished graduates, Leon Panetta B.A '60, J.D. '63, was this year’s Law Commencement Speaker. After spending 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Panetta served the White House as director of the Office of Management and Budget (1993-4) and White House chief of staff (1994-7). In 1997, with his wife, Sylvia, he established The Panetta Institute for Public Policy. He later served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2009-11) and U.S. Secretary of Defense (2011-13).
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aying our nation is “at a crossroads,” former United States Secretary of Defense Leon Edward Panetta B.A. ’60, J.D. ’63 told the Santa Clara University School of Law Class of 2017 that democracy will mean nothing if Americans aren’t willing to fight for the rule of law. Panetta addressed the more than 180 graduates and their family and friends at Santa Clara Law’s commencement ceremony, which was held May 20 in the Mission Gardens. He said America could go one of two ways: an “America in Renaissance”— building on our technological and defense leadership—or “America in decline,” careening from crisis to crisis amid eroding trust in democratic institutions due to fears, prejudices, and political attacks. “The story of the last election was the story of lost trust, angry voters who 8 SANTA CLARA LAW | FALL 2017
felt that no one in Washington, no political party, was working to deal with the problems they were facing,” he said. He said such divisions are surmountable, but “you cannot be a good leader or a good citizen if you do not respect our Constitution and the institutions responsible for enforcing the requirements of that sacred document.” Panetta is the son of immigrants, and he told of how his parents traveled thousands of miles to give their children a better life. “We are a nation that builds bridges, not walls,” he said. “And most of all, we need to respect the truth.” Panetta’s 50-year career included two years each as secretary of defense and CIA director, as well as eight terms in Congress. He is currently chairman of the Panetta Institute for Public Policy, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit study center seeking to attract thoughtful men and women to lives of public service and
prepare them for the policy challenges of the future. During his speech, Panetta said law students who work with the Panetta Institute learn “what it takes to find consensus on issues, which is heart and soul of the legislative process, and frankly has become a lost art in Washington.” Panetta was a member of the University’s ROTC program while at SCU, and he later taught a political science course in the College of Arts and Sciences for years, and served on SCU’s Board of Trustees from 1988 to 2009. Of the 181 graduates receiving J.D. or LL.M. degrees, 35 received certificates in various areas of high tech law; another 13 received certificates in public interest and social justice law; four specialized in international law and three in privacy law. —DEBORAH LOHSE