{"id":31244,"date":"2022-05-14T13:40:15","date_gmt":"2022-05-14T17:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stetson.edu\/law\/news\/?p=31244"},"modified":"2022-12-15T13:36:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T18:36:00","slug":"spring-22-graduation-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stetson.edu\/law\/news\/index.php\/2022\/05\/14\/spring-22-graduation-highlights\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring ’22 Graduation Highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Graduates
Graduates at the Spring 2022 enjoyed sunshine and camaraderie. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Under bright, sunny skies Saturday morning and afternoon, more than 250 Stetson Law students officially became Stetson Law alumni. Comprising three ceremonies, graduation took place in the Plaza Mayor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three ceremonies took place at 8:30 a.m., 10:15 a.m., and 12:00 p.m. Each began with a ceremonial procession featuring bagpipes followed by marshals, graduating students, legacies, faculty, and the platform party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bagpipers
A pair of bagpipers leads the commencement procession into the Plaza Mayor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once all were seated, Stetson University College of Law Dean Mich\u00e8le Alexandre<\/strong> welcomed the graduates and their loved ones, acknowledge active-duty military and veterans among those gathered, and spoke about the graduates’ exceptional resilience and grit, which she said prepares them for meaningful advocacy careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Stetson Law Dean Michele Alexandre gave a moving speech to the graduating class.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“As I pondered the issues we face today in this increasingly complex world: climate change, global wars, and my conviction has reinforced that you are well prepared to join us in tackling these problems,” she said. “That is because you are the embodiment of the qualities that it takes to rise to this moment in our history. You, 2022 graduates, have had to adapt and transcend conditions and a national landscape for which there was no blueprint. You faced it all and excelled.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Stetson
Stetson University President Christopher Roellke leads graduates out of a Spring 2022 commencement event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the rigors of academic life at Stetson Law, the new graduates assembled there faced the unique challenge of attending the bulk of law school amid a global pandemic in a time of political upheaval \u2013 something not lost on those who spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve made it to the end of a remarkable journey, and I commend you for your resilience, your tenacity and for all that you have accomplished during what I have been calling a \u2018once-in-a-century set of challenges\u2019 for higher education,\u201d said Stetson University President Christopher Roellke<\/strong>, PhD. \u201cYou made it. You made it through lockdowns, online learning, virtual meetings, lost internet connections, masks, handwashing, and physical distancing. You endured and you made it<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Students
Students wait as a Spring 2022 commencement ceremony begins.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A keynote from the Deputy Secretary of the V.A.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After President Roellke bestowed on him an honorary doctor of laws, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Donald Remy<\/strong> gave a lively commencement address that expressed the gravity of the work the grads will soon be doing as lawyers. But his speech was not without levity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Deputy VA Secretary Donald Remy gave the Spring 2022 commencement keynote.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He said his friend and former colleague, Stetson Law Professor Royal Gardner<\/strong>, offered him pointers for giving the address: keep it short, keep it simple, and avoid cliches like telling the students “to be courageous as you go out into the brave new world.” It was that last bit of advice, Remy joked, that he couldn\u2019t completely follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to come dangerously close to telling you all ‘to be courageous as you go out into the brave new world,’\u201d Remy said. \u201cBecause that\u2019s part of your responsibility as new lawyers. In accepting this call to become lawyers, to join this profession of law, you have an opportunity, but you also have a responsibility. And that responsibility is to right wrongs. It\u2019s to look at challenges both large and small and make a difference. And most importantly, it\u2019s to hold our great nation accountable to its promises.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Family and friends gathered in the Plaza Mayor to watch the Spring 2022 graduation ceremony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He told the graduates that as lawyers, they help ensure that the words in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence will never ring hollow \u2013 and they will defend the fundamental promises upon which the U.S. was founded.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Friends and family looked on as the ceremony took place.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter three years of law school, you know better than many that democracy isn\u2019t destiny,\u201d Remy said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t just survive on its own. It\u2019s on you to preserve and protect it. You know better than anyone that progress doesn\u2019t just happen. It\u2019s on you to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Provost
Provost Noel Painter and Assistant Dean Darryl Wilson exit the Plaza Mayor after a Spring 2022 commencement ceremony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Virtual words of encouragement from key leaders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In short, pre-recorded videos, some of the most prominent Stetson Law community leaders congratulated the graduating classes and encouraged them to advocate for a better world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stetson University Board of Trustees Chair Maureen Breakiron-Evans<\/strong> said the graduates join a community of Stetson Law alumni that has spanned a century and urged them to stay connected with the Stetson Law community with which they shared a law school journey in unprecedented times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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