More than 50 Seattle University School of Law graduates processed across the stage to signify the end of their law school journeys on Saturday at Campion Hall on campus.
Forty-four December candidates are expected to receive a JD, 10 are expected to receive an MLS degree, and 10 are expected to receive an LLM degree. August graduates, who may also walk in December Commencement, included four JD grads and 10 MLS grads. Degrees for December graduates are considered final once grades are posted in January.
Campion Hall, festive and resplendent with poinsettias and red ribbons, was quite literally standing room only, as relatives and friends packed together to watch their loved ones take this momentous step.
Seattle University President Eduardo Peñalver kicked off the celebration in his last-ever Seattle U Law Commencement Address before he takes the helm at Georgetown University in the spring.
“The law is an essential technology for achieving justice at scale,” he said. “We’re counting on you to take up the fight for the rule of law while keeping your eye on the ultimate prize of justice.”
Dean Anthony E. Varona gave the graduates words of wisdom gained over the course of his long legal career, such as always showing kindness to others, “living from a place of gratitude,” and “doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” In a touching moment that drew many heartfelt chuckles, he shared the advice his young son had given the evening before — to “be like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and embrace the differences that make each person unique.
“Being a Seattle U Law-educated attorney is a superpower,” Varona said. “Use it for good.”
Class speaker Laura Edmonston ’25, a Flex JD Program graduate who was chosen by her classmates to give the Student Address, said she was achieving a dream she has held for three decades, thanks in no small part to the support of her Flex JD peers.
“We came to this institution to begin our first careers or fifth careers,” she said. “We have worked together, laughed together, and cried together.”
Even while expressing joy, Edmonston noted the seriousness of current events for the legal profession, observing, “We are here today at a critical moment in our nation’s history.”
"What the world needs now, maybe more than ever, is us," Edmonston said. “Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, the real work begins.”
Pallavi Mehta Wahi, a partner at Arnold & Porter, where she is also chair of Western United States Strategic Growth and head of the firm’s Seattle office, delivered the Keynote Address, in which she discussed the importance of fear. Wahi recalled the different points throughout her education and career in which she had felt fear, such as when she moved from her home country of India to the U.K. to attend law school at Cambridge University.
“Every consequential decision I’ve ever made has come with fear,” she said. “You’re going to feel scared about big decisions … but the worst thing you can do is not make a decision at all.”
Wahi explained that fear can be a powerful motivator.
“If you feel fear, that means you’re growing,” she said. “Don’t just be there to succeed. You will fail. It’s okay. If you’re not a little afraid, that means you’re stagnating.”
An album of photos from the ceremony and reception can be viewed online, and a video of the ceremony can be viewed on Seattle U Law’s YouTube channel.