SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Use your diplomas as microphones to speak up in the face of "appalling
silences," Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of Alabama-based
Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) told the 280 graduating members of Santa Clara
University School of Law.
The law school`s 98th commencement took place at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in the
University`s Mission Gardens, on a sunny day attended by a jubilant and
multi-ethnic crowd of about 3,500 family, friends and supporters of the Class of
2009.
Santa Clara Law`s Class of 2009 is nearly evenly split between male and female
graduates, with 49 percent women and 51 percent men. One of the top-ranked
schools for diversity, 23 percent of SCU Law`s graduates are Asian or Pacific
Islander; 6 percent each Hispanic and African American; 5 percent Mid Eastern;
and 43 percent Caucasian. Twenty one already have advanced degrees.
Speaking extemporaneously from a dais under crisp white awnings, Stevenson spoke
to his rapt audience about "the importance of recognizing your power." He said
he could trace his own empowerment to his grandmother`s doting love, saying she
taught him to respect words, to consider them your identity.
"There is power in identity," he said. "If we say something, with the identity
that we have, we can change the way people think, we can change the way people
behave," he added, telling a story about a racist and abusive prison guard who
eventually came to treat Stevenson respectfully after hearing him passionately
defend an unfairly treated client in court. "Nothing is impossible if you speak
up," he said.
Stevenson has won national acclaim for his work challenging bias against the
poor and people of color in the criminal justice system, and for working to
overturn unjust death penalties, especially in the South where the legacy of
racism persists.
Under his leadership, EJI has assisted in securing relief for at least 75
condemned prisoners in Alabama, advocated for poor people, and developed
community-based reform litigation aimed at improving the administration of
criminal justice. Stevenson has argued twice before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Summarizing some of the core lessons he`s learned, Stevenson repeated his
oft-stated belief that "each person is more than the worst thing they`ve ever
done," and "the opposite of poverty is justice."
He said one "appalling silence" he is currently trying to break is the trend
toward the permanent disenfranchisement of black males, as more and more of them
lose the right to vote due to laws stripping convicted offenders of that basic
right. He is also fighting to stop 13 and 14-year-olds from being tried as
adults and sentenced to life in prison, and to help give hope to extremely poor
youth in inner cities.
"If we don`t say something there will be costs; there will be consequences," he
said. He also made the crowd laugh with a story of how in a fit of frustration
he filed an unsuccessful motion to have his teen client tried, not as an adult,
but as "a 75-year-old privileged white corporate executive."
Stevenson was introduced by Santa Clara Law Dean Don Polden, and his speech
followed a welcome by Santa Clara University`s president Michael Engh, S.J. Engh
issued his own request to the students to "be heroes" like Stevenson, to
"inspire us by your lives as lawyers," and perform works that will inspire
emulation in children.
Although Stevenson has spent decades speaking up for "the hated," the wrongfully
convicted or shoddily defended poor, he urged students to be vocal no matter
which field of law they practice.
"You have the capacity, you have the power, you have the ability when you leave
this place today to say things that can change the world around you," said
Stevenson, who received an honorary doctor of law degree on Saturday. He
graduated magna cum laude from Eastern University in Pennsylvania, before
attending Harvard Law School and the Harvard School of Government, from which he
graduated in 1985.
Stevenson received a standing ovation from the entire audience, including the
graduating class.
About Santa Clara University School of Law
Santa Clara Law, founded in 1911 on the site of California`s oldest operating
higher-education institution, is dedicated to educating lawyers who lead with a
commitment to excellence, ethics, and social justice. One of the nation`s most
diverse law schools, Santa Clara Law offers its 975 students an academically
rigorous program, including graduate degrees in international law and
intellectual property law; a combined J.D./MBA degree; and certificates in
intellectual property law, international law, and public interest and social
justice law. Santa Clara Law is located in the world-class business center of
Silicon Valley and is distinguished nationally for its highly ranked program in
intellectual property. For more information, see www.law.scu.edu.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40
miles south of San Francisco in California`s Silicon Valley, offers its 8,758
students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and
engineering, plus master`s and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished
nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master`s
universities, California`s oldest operating higher-education institution
demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more
information, see www.scu.edu.
Santa Clara University
Deborah Lohse, 408-554-5121
Media Relations
Copyright Business Wire 2009
