The Class of 2021 celebrated their graduation at the University of Chicago Law School’s 23rd annual Diploma and Hooding Ceremony on Saturday, June 12, 2021.

The ceremony included remarks by Dean Thomas J. Miles as well as a prerecorded video featuring 10 faculty members who are also Law School alumni.

The event looked different than in previous years: it was held outdoors on the University’s main quad instead of in Rockefeller Chapel, and health and safety protocols were in place to protect graduates as well as the small number of guests, faculty, and staff who attended. The ceremony also was livestreamed to allow for remote participation.

After an unexpected weather delay—a thunderstorm that required everyone to temporarily seek shelter—graduates were escorted to their seats by a traditional bagpipe procession.

In his opening remarks, Dean Miles welcomed the soon-to-be graduates, noting that it was the largest in-person gathering in 18 months. “Class of 2021, we have missed you,” he said. “Every class that graduates from the Law School is unique. Every class has its own mixture of personalities, its own contributions to our history, and its own memories. Even by this standard, the Class of 2021 is unlike any other.”

Students listened as Miles acknowledged not only the many hardships of the past year and a half but the varying ways in which—and degrees to which—students experienced them. Their collective response, he said, was one that displayed great hope. “Despite the challenges, the losses, the continuing uncertainties—and now the rain—you showed great confidence in your future,” he said. “During the depths of the pandemic, and at the most trying moments of the past 18 months, when the uncertainties and the anxieties were the greatest, you undertook this act of optimism: you engaged in learning.”

In a pre-recorded video, 10 faculty members, all alumni of the Law School, reflected on the Class of 2021’s extraordinary time at the Law School—and several shared memories of the world events that shaped their own time at the University of Chicago. For Sharon Fairley, ’06, it was the intensifying of the post-9/11 War on Terror. For Josh Avratin, ’12, it was the financial crisis and Great Recession. For Randal C. Picker, ’85, it was the 1984 release of the Apple Macintosh computer. For Anup Malani, ’00, it was the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. For Emily Underwood, ’13, it was the Arab Spring. Todd Henderson, ’98, recalled standing in the Green Lounge to watch as the verdict in the OJ Simpson murder trial was read. Randall Schmidt, ’79, recalled the end of the Vietnam War and the aftermath of the Nixon administration.

But the challenges faced by this year’s graduates were different, Sarah Konsky, ’04, acknowledged. “You are finishing law school and starting your legal careers in a world changed more than ever.” What’s more, added William Hubbard, ’00, “These events have not been in the background, as they are often are. These events have directly impacted your everyday law school experience—and that matters.”

Each year, “the Law School graduates great lawyers—lawyers who are ready to handle everything the world can throw at them,” Hubbard told students. But this year, Underwood added, “we are not just graduating lawyers who can handle everything the world throws at them, we are graduating lawyers who already have.”

The professors recalled the traditions that didn’t change—from surviving the first cold call to engaging in civil discourse—and shared their pride in the graduates. “With your leadership, we are confident that this moment in history will be remembered not just as a moment of change, but also as a moment of unique hope and as the beginning of something great,” said Deputy Dean Anthony Casey, ’02. “Today we celebrate that hope. Today we celebrate you.”

As each graduate’s name was read, Dean Miles presented the diploma.

The four faculty hooders—Emily Buss, David Strauss, Genevieve Lakier, and Jonathan Masur—placed the traditional hood.

Afterward, the new graduates returned to the Law School to pick up some graduation gifts and say a farewell to the faculty.

Students had a chance to congratulate each other and say goodbye.

Faculty lined up to cheer the new graduates beside the Levin Reflecting Pool.

Graduates even found ways to include friends who were not able to be there in person.

Congratulations to the Class of 2021!

A video of the Diploma and Hooding Ceremony is now available on the Graduation page. 

The Class of 2021 celebrated their graduation at the University of Chicago Law School’s 23rd annual Diploma and Hooding Ceremony on Saturday, June 12, 2021.

The ceremony included remarks by Dean Thomas J. Miles as well as a prerecorded video featuring 10 faculty members who are also Law School alumni.

The event looked different than in previous years: it was held outdoors on the University’s main quad instead of in Rockefeller Chapel, and health and safety protocols were in place to protect graduates as well as the small number of guests, faculty, and staff who attended. The ceremony also was livestreamed to allow for remote participation.

After an unexpected weather delay—a thunderstorm that required everyone to temporarily seek shelter—graduates were escorted to their seats by a traditional bagpipe procession.

In his opening remarks, Miles welcomed the soon-to-be graduates, noting that it was the largest in-person gathering in 18 months. “Class of 2021, we have missed you,” he said. “Every class that graduates from the Law School is unique. Every class has its own mixture of personalities, its own contributions to our history, and its own memories. Even by this standard, the Class of 2021 is unlike any other.”

Students listened as Miles acknowledged not only the many hardships of the past year and a half but the varying ways in which—and degrees to which—students experienced them. Their collective response, he said, was one that displayed great hope. “Despite the challenges, the losses, the continuing uncertainties—and now the rain—you showed great confidence in your future,” he said. “During the depths of the pandemic, and at the most trying moments of the past 18 months, when the uncertainties and the anxieties were the greatest, you undertook this act of optimism: you engaged in learning.”

In a pre-recorded video, 10 faculty members, all alumni of the Law School, reflected on the Class of 2021’s extraordinary time at the Law School—and several shared memories of the world events that shaped their own time at the University of Chicago. For Sharon Fairley, ’06, it was the post 9/11 intensifying of the War on Terror. For Josh Avratin, ’12, it was the financial crisis and Great Recession. For Randal C. Picker, ’85, it was the 1984 release of the Apple Macintosh computer. For Anup Malani, ’00, it was the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. For Emily Underwood, ’13, it was the Arab Spring. Todd Henderson, ’98, recalled standing in the Green Lounge to watch as the verdict in the OJ Simpson murder trial was read. Randall Schmidt, ’79, recalled the end of the Vietnam War and the aftermath of the Nixon administration.

But the challenges faced by this year’s graduates were different, Sarah Konsky, ’04, acknowledged. “You are finishing law school and starting your legal careers in a world changed more than ever.” What’s more, added William Hubbard, ’00, “These events have not been in the background, as they are often are. These events have directly impacted your everyday law school experience—and that matters.”

Each year, “the Law School graduates great lawyers—lawyers who are ready to handle everything the world can throw at them,” Hubbard told students. But this year, Underwood added, “we are not just graduating lawyers who can handle everything the world throws at them, we are graduating lawyers who already have.”

The professors recalled the traditions that didn’t change—from surviving the first cold call to engaging in civil discourse—and shared their pride in the graduates. “With your leadership, we are confident that this moment in history will be remembered not just as a moment of change, but also as a moment of unique hope and as the beginning of something great,” said Deputy Dean Anthony Casey, ’02. “Today we celebrate that hope. Today we celebrate you.”

As each graduate’s name was read, Miles presented the diploma. The four faculty hooders—Professors Emily Buss, David Strauss, Genevieve Lakier, and Jonathan Masur—placed the traditional hood.

Afterward, the new graduates returned to the Law School to pick up some graduation gifts and say a farewell to the faculty.