From the Deans' Suite - 8/19/25 - Welcoming Our New Students
Yesterday, 128 new J.D. students walked through our doors for in-person orientation—the first of three Orientation days together. This Friday, we'll extend that same warm welcome to our J.D. Online students as they begin their own orientation journey. We're also welcoming ten M.L.S. students and four LL.M. students this fall. Together, all of these students join a community united by our mission: Learn Law. Live Justice.
The highlight of yesterday's program was a conversation with four faculty members about four pillars of our mission: Academic Effort, Civil Discourse, Professional Integrity, and Living Justice. Professors Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, John Plecnik, Sarah Nintcheff, and Laura Hoffman brought these values to life in ways that were both practical and inspiring.
Professor Robertson challenged students to embrace a new kind of academic rigor, one where real learning emerges from mistakes and the courage to persist. Professor Plecnik reframed civil discourse as a way of being: approaching every conversation with the humility to know we might be wrong and the wisdom to seek common ground over conflict. Professor Nintcheff spoke to the fragile power of reputation, showing how professional integrity reveals itself most clearly in our response to mistakes. Finally, Professor Hoffman invited students into the difficult questions they will face as lawyers, sparking a lively discussion about what it means to live justice when client decisions and personal conscience diverge.
These conversations set exactly the right tone for the days and weeks ahead. They remind us that law school is not only about learning doctrine but also about shaping character and preparing for lives of justice.
I am proud of our faculty, proud of our mission, and proud of the students who began their journey with us yesterday, and I look forward to welcoming our J.D. Online students later this week as they, too, embrace this mission and become part of our community.
Warmly,
Carolyn