There remains
one last charge with which to send you out as new graduates.
You have been well schooled in the
precepts and practice of the law. You have been reminded several
times today
that, along the way, you no doubt already have learned more endings
than you care to remember – endings to the dialogue that begins
something like, “Say, have you heard the one about the
two lawyers?”
But don’t be misled by that anxious humor. When there is trouble,
contention, inequality or any challenge to human rights, you will
hear those same would-be humorists say, without jest, “Can
I talk to my lawyer? I need an opinion from counsel before I
can sign this. What are my Rights? Can you represent me? Please,
will
you take my case?”
It is a truth that, from the intensely publicized halls of
Congress, to the forgotten homeless poor; from the executive
suits of our
most powerful corporations, to the fear-filled retreat of
a defenseless, lonely, and abused child…We need champions; champions of
what is just; champions of what is fair; and champions of what
is equal
under the law.
With that understanding, I now ask you to reverently bow
your heads…Receive
then this charge…a charge from this faculty, from this
assembly and from a nation in search of justice; a charge to
be kept in
every day of your professional life; a charge that you relentlessly
and
tirelessly seek justice; that you embody always only what is
fair and what is equal under the law.
And in that righteous endeavor, may almighty God bless
and keep you. May
He make His face shine upon you
and be gracious unto you. May He lift up His countenance
upon you…that in all you, you
do justice, and from this day forward may the work in your profession
have the
guidance and the strength of His eternal peace.
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