One hundred students representing 49 undergraduate institutions, 30 undergraduate majors and an array of professional backgrounds have joined Elon University School of Law as the Class of 2015.
The class, with fifteen percent minority representation, includes five veterans of the United States military, several students with international experience and numerous students with backgrounds in philanthropic and nonprofit service including work experience with the Special Olympics, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, community kitchens, hurricane relief, pediatric and hospice care, cancer patient support and community safety educational programs.
On August 15, the university welcomed the class at a convocation ceremony held at Whitley Auditorium on Elon University’s main campus, approximately 30 minutes from the law school’s location in downtown Greensboro. The ceremony was followed by a reception hosted by Elon University President Leo M. Lambert.
“I hope that you will think of yourselves as fully Phoenix,” Lambert said in welcoming remarks. “The law school is tightly woven into the fabric of Elon University. This is your university. This is your campus. We are delighted you are here at Elon.”
George R. Johnson, Jr., Dean and Professor of Law, welcomed the class at opening convocation.
“From the many roles we occupy, lawyers lead a continuing American conversation about how to achieve a truly just society, a ‘more perfect union,’” Johnson said. “It, therefore, is essential that you, as future lawyers, prepare to add your voices to this continuing conversation in our professional and civic lives. And we want your legal education at Elon to prepare you to do so, to remind you of these obligations, to reinforce the values that have undergirded our profession, and to prepare you to assume your chosen roles of leadership and service with confidence and integrity.”
The convocation ceremony featured a call to honor by James G. Exum, Jr., former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and a professor at Elon Law. He said that one of the most important assets of a lawyer was his or her reputation for honesty and integrity.
“The best weapon any advocate can have is a reputation for scrupulous honesty in all professional dealings and representations,” Exum said. “That alone will carry you a long way to success in our profession.”
Dr. Steve House, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Elon University, presented each member of Elon Law’s Class of 2014 with an acorn, part of a tradition at Elon that also includes presentation of an oak sapling to graduates of the university. He shared with students the university’s hopes for their success.
“Our hope for you in the three years that you will be at Elon is that you will become independent, self-directed learners, that you will put serious and consistent effort into your studies, that your passion and curiosity about learning will be contagious, and that you will continuously reflect and evaluate on your own progress in this great learning adventure,” House said.
Orientation for first-year students at Elon Law took place throughout the week of August 13. Among a variety of activities, the orientation schedule included small group discussions with alumni, social gatherings and events outside the law school with faculty members, a day of volunteer service in the community, meetings with leaders of the American Bar Association and the North Carolina Bar Association, and introductions by faculty to some of the key dimensions of law, legal education and coursework at Elon.
