2014 USC Gould Commencement

Graduates urged to advocate, serve and inspire

-By Gilien Silsby

Luis J. Rodriguez, the 89th president of the State Bar of California, urged USC Gould School of Law’s new graduates to use their law degrees as a license to stand up for their country and community.

2014 Commencement Speaker Luis Rodriguez

Delivering the keynote address at the commencement ceremony May 16, Rodriguez told the USC Gould Class of 2014 that they have the potential “to create not a tiny ripple but an immense wave of hope.”

“Today, any injustice is your injustice to correct,” he said. “Law is not simply ink on a piece of paper.  Law is a living entity that is brought to life by you to foster the growth of justice. Today you give a voice to those who have none.”

Rodriguez, the first Latino and the first active public defender to serve as president of the State Bar, challenged the graduates to advocate and fight for justice.

“It doesn’t matter where you work, what type of law you practice, or even how much you make doing it,” he said. “What matters is that today, for the first time in your life you have what Americans have lived and died for. You have standing - to speak, to advocate, to fight.”

Rodriguez addressed the 216 juris doctor recipients, along with 173 foreign graduate students receiving master of laws degrees and one receiving a master of comparative law degree.

The commencement ceremony, held in USC’s Founders Park, also featured student speakers Irene Tatevosyan, 3L class president, and, Claudia Savinon de los Santos, an LL.M. graduate from the Dominican Republic.

Gould students celebrate at the 2014 Commencement

Tatevosyan marveled at her class spirit and collegiality. “Student after student can recount the generosity of their classmates: students would miss lecture because they were sick and, before even waking up, one classmate would have emailed them notes, another would have recorded the lecture for them, and more would have texted and called to see if they were okay. The spirit of USC Law students was captured best by our dean of admissions," said Tatevosyan, referring to Dean Chloe Reid. "I asked her one day, how the admissions office could possibly admit some qualified applicants and forgo others. She said, ‘USC law looks for students… who use the word ‘we’ instead of “I.’”

She said that law school is just the end of the beginning. “We will go on to accomplish amazing legal and non-legal feats in the private sector, in firms and offices, for District and City Attorneys, for the media industry, for non-profits, and countless other industries and organizations.”

Savinon de los Santos spoke on behalf of USC Gould’s foreign graduate students, who came from 30 different countries. The foreign law graduates are associates at leading law firms, employed as corporate legal counsel and as business professionals in top companies worldwide and work for the governments and ministries of their home countries.

Irene Tatevosyan, 3L Class President, delivers commencement address

“Let me tell you a little bit about our class: we are not afraid of change, we like to be challenged and we try to innovate,” said Savinon de los Santos. “As a Trojan community, we learned a lot from each other. Throughout this year and in each of our classes, we helped each other to become better attorneys. We learned to look at things in new perspectives and respect others’ points of views…

We couldn’t have chosen a better place to study and better people to do it with. Although we come from different backgrounds, I realize that we have one thing in common: we each came to USC with a dream.”

USC Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Elizabeth Garrett told the graduates that the law school’s goal is to inspire, spark passion and foster ambition and courage to make the world a better place.

“We hope to have instilled in you a curiosity, nimbleness and entrepreneurial spirit that will enable you to understand the needs of those you serve, whether they be Fortune 500 companies or the least fortunate among us, and to craft innovative solutions to their problems,” she said. “It is the passion for your profession that will serve as a foundation as you build your careers. Looking out at you today, and reflecting on what you have already accomplished during your time at USC, I am confident that your passion is not in question.”

Watch the 2014 Commencement webcast at http://weblaw.usc.edu/events/commencement/webcast.cfm