Roy Cooper, the attorney general of North Carolina, will deliver Elon University School of Law’s Commencement address on May 23, 2015.
Seventy-nine students will receive the Juris Doctor degree at the law school’s ceremonies, which will be held at 6 p.m. “Under the Oaks” at Elon University in Elon, N.C.
Since Attorney General Cooper was first elected in 2000, he has served as the chief law enforcement officer and administrative head of the North Carolina Department of Justice. He provides legal representation and advice to all state government departments, agencies and commissions. He gives legal opinions at the request of other public officials and handles all criminal appeals from state trial courts. When the state’s public interests are at stake, Attorney General Cooper can take legal action on behalf of North Carolina’s citizens.
Before becoming attorney general, Cooper was a managing partner of his law firm and was elected to both the North Carolina House and Senate where he served as the senate majority leader and chair of the Judiciary and Ethics committees. He received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a Morehead Scholar. He has served as a Sunday school teacher, an elder and a deacon in his church. He has long tutored students at local schools and has led fundraising for the March of Dimes, Barium Springs Home for Children and the United Way.
Prior Elon Law Commencement speakers include:
- 2014 – Thomas W. Ross, President, University of North Carolina system
- 2013 – The Honorable Catherine C. Eagles, Judge, United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
- 2012 – The Honorable James A. Wynn, Jr., Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- 2011 – United States Senator Richard Burr
- 2010 – Former United States Senator Kay Hagan
- 2009 – David Gergen, chair, Elon University School of Law advisory board; professor of public service and co-director of the Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School; senior political analyst , CNN; former adviser to United States Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.
Information about Elon Law’s 2015 Commencement weekend is available here.