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Scenes from Orientation Week 2025

Photos by Lloyd DeGrane

Students at a check-in table grabbing a t-shirt
Students check-in and grab a Law School t-shirt on day one of Orientation.
A group of students standing together posing for a photo and all wearing a black t-shirt
New this year: A group of upper-class student mentors, dubbed Dean’s Fellows, helped welcome students by leading campus and building tours, facilitating group sessions, and shepherding the fledgling law students through the week’s activities.
A student leader leads a group of students down a hallway.
A Dean's Fellow leads students down the classroom corridor.
Students sitting at round tables.
Throughout the week, students enjoyed many meals together.
Students filing into an auditorium.
Students file into the auditorium for a formal welcome from Law School leaders.
People standing and applauding.
Law School staff and administrators applaud students as they take their seats.
Dean Adam Chilton delivers an official welcome at the lectern.
Dean Adam Chilton delivers an official welcome.
A woman at a lectern speaking.
Dean of Students Brandi Welch addresses the students.
Students walking down a hallway.
Students walk down the hallway between sessions. The week featured several interactive workshops and informative sessions led by staff, faculty, and Dean's Fellows.
Students listening to someone speak in a classroom.
Sessions included "Thriving at the Law School," "AI and the Legal Profession," and introductory classes to Legal Research and Writing.
Students facing screens in a classroom.
Professor William Hubbard presents a Free Expression workshop.
A student asks a question in a classroom.
A student asks a question.
A group of students standing in a library being given a tour.
Dean's Fellows give students a tour of the library.
Students standing and speaking to a woman who is sitting down at a table.
Students stop to chat with Dean of Students Brandi Welch (left).
Two students stand side by side smiling and holding ice cream cups with a group of students huddled in the background.
Students enjoyed a "Taste of Chicago" dinner in which they got to sample different Chicago-style foods...
A student prepares a hotdog to eat.
...including the famous Chicago-style hotdog.
Students standing in front of a row of ice cream buckets choosing a flavor to eat.
There were plenty of sweets to sample, too.
Students standing outside speaking.
Students catch a moment with Professor William Hubbard.
A group of 200 students standing tightly together to take an aerial view photo.
The Class of 2028 poses for a photo.
A group photo of students.
Transfer students pose for their class photo.
A large group photo of students standing together.
The Law School also welcomed 77 LLMs this year from 30 different countries.
Students seated in a row of chairs facing each other while smiling and talking.
Students enjoy team-building activities in the Kapnick Improv class.
Students standing with their arms raised high performing some sort of activity.
The improv activities always produce a laugh.
A woman stands at a lectern.
Professor Sonja Starr leads a session on "statistical discrimination," discussing and critiquing contexts in which the legal system has appeared to tolerate or encourage statistical discrimination, which refers to treating individuals differently based on generalizations about the groups to which they belong.
Students standing outside dressed in formal attire and holding glasses of wine.
Students mingle during the networking reception that precedes the Entering Students Dinner.
Two professors standing side by side speaking with students.
Professor Jonathan Masur and Professor Farah Peterson connect with students at the reception.
Formally dressed people stand at a high table conversing with one another.
The Entering Students Dinner is a beloved Law School tradition.
Students sitting at dinner tables with a banner in the background that says Welcome Class of 2028.
Students take their seats among faculty guest attendees.
A man stands at a lectern addressing an audience.
Clinical Professor Craig E. Futterman delivers his speech at the Entering Students Dinner, sharing insights and words of wisdom.
Students listening intently to the speech.
Students listen intently to Futterman's remarks.
A man stands next to a dinner table smiling and holding a glass of wine to cheers the people seated.
Futterman greets students, welcoming them to the Law School community.

This fall the University of Chicago Law School welcomed 204 JD students to its campus. The Class of 2028 started their new chapter with Orientation the week of September 15 -19.