The Washington and Lee University School of Law celebrated its 171st commencement on Friday, May 15, recognizing 119 graduates earning Juris Doctor degrees.
President Will Dudley opened the ceremony, his final law commencement as president of W&L. During his remarks, Dudley evoked memories of the time the graduates have spent together building a remarkable community at one of the nation’s most unique law schools.
“You have spent three years together in this beautiful place. It has shaped you, as individuals and as a class. Together you have studied, argued, and developed the habits of mind that characterize good lawyers. You have made lasting friendships that will give you pleasure and support wherever you go.
“Before you set out upon your different paths, I want you to savor your final moments together this morning, on this historic campus that has been your shared home,” said Dudley.
Melanie D. Wilson, dean of the law school, followed Dudley to the podium. As has become her tradition, Wilson recounted by name many of the students and their accomplishments during their time in law school, noting that the class was made up of students who attended 83 different undergraduate institutions and hailed from 21 states, the District of Columbia, and six foreign countries.
“With your incredible and different backgrounds and experiences, you came here, embraced the W&L Law culture, and found common ground in each other, as you faced intellectual challenges on your way to more excellence,” said Wilson.
Wilson expanded on just what it means to be a graduate of W&L Law, sharing remarks delivered by William Hill ’74, ‘77L at a recent event about how throughout his long and distinguished career, when he was dealing with another W&L lawyer, he knew that the encounter would be defined by honesty, civil dialogue, and integrity.
“I hope you can appreciate how special and important this community bond is and, correspondingly, how each of the alumni are connected and dedicated to you and your success because you share that bond and that you will also be tied to those who graduate a decade after you in this same way,” said Wilson. “As you move from law student to lawyer today, you bring not only your skills, abilities, experiences, and education gained over the past three years, but also decades of W&L lawyers behind you who have walked the same path.”
After the graduates were awarded their degrees, both President Dudley and Dean Wilson offered remarks on this year’s commencement speaker, professor Brian Murchison, who is retiring from full-time teaching this year after 44 years at W&L. Dudley recalled his decision in 2017 to establish a commission to examine the university’s history and who would lead the effort.
“I needed someone wise like Solomon, brave like Achilles, and universally respected like Mother Teresa,” said Dudley, who made discreet inquiries to find out who would be up to the task. “What I heard, again and again, was ‘Brian Murchison.’ “ Wilson then formally introduced Murchison, the longestserving current faculty member at the university and third-longest serving law professor of all time. He has been recognized numerous times with awards for his scholarship, and students have awarded him 17 different teaching honors, including this year with the Student Bar Association Teacher of the Year Award. In 1988, he won the Virginia Council of Higher Education’s Outstanding Faculty Award, the Commonwealth’s highest honor for university faculty, recognizing excellence in teaching, research scholarship, mentoring, and public service.
At W&L Law, Murchison has served as interim dean and as director of the Frances Lewis Law Center, among numerous other activities. He also cofounded the Black Lung Legal Clinic, serving as supervising attorney for a number of years. At the university level, Murchison served on numerous search committees for leadership positions, directed the Mudd Center for Ethics, and chaired the W&L Commission on Institutional History and Community. The Executive Committee awarded him the William W. Pusey Award in 2008 as the faculty member or administrator who has made the greatest contribution to the university.
Murchison opened his remarks by recounting his arrival in Lexington many years ago, noting how quickly he embraced the teaching spirit of W&L.
“My love of W&L runs deep, most probably because the place expects so much of all of us,” said Murchison. “It isn’t enough to be a good teacher and a decent scholar. The ethos of the law faculty, I could see from the start, was that we were to be excellent teachers and excellent scholars, and that the two were related, and both were required. The message was always that teaching was a privilege and a service, and our job was nothing less than to lift away some of the ignorance and even fear of those in our trust.”
During his address, Murchison discussed several hopes he has for the graduating class, including that they are able to find opportunities for meaningful collaboration in their work, and that they deliberately seek out ways to integrate pro bono service in their legal practice, citing a number of important cases the students studied in law school where the winning attorney volunteered their time.
In an emotional conclusion, Murchison encouraged the graduates to open themselves to experiences that will deepen their understanding of humanity.
“A lawyer should be person for all seasons, and you must be prepared to be that,” said Murchison. “You will be asked to solve unanswerable problems, you may need to grasp much more of human nature than you ever expected, you will certainly be faced with questions of judgment more often than questions of law. How then are you to gain this sort of wisdom? What do you really know about people and their dreams and doubts?
“I urge you to embrace opportunities for deepening your own spirit in order to understand more of someone else’s. You will be a better lawyer – and person – if you venture at least sometimes beyond your realm of comfort, into a world where much might actually be learned.”
Following Murchison’s remarks, third-year class officers Jack Halligan and Katie Risser presented Murchison with a walking stick, traditionally given to students at the awards ceremony preceding graduation. The walking stick, or cane, originated in the 1920s as a way to distinguish third-year law students on campus. At that time, only two years of law school were required, and the walking stick served as a way to reward and honor those students who stayed for a third year. An endowment to fund the purchase of the walking stick for future classes was recently established by Tom Millhiser ‘81L.
Graduation festivities began Thursday with the annual awards ceremony, which was held in Evans Hall. Four students graduated summa cum laude, 14 graduated magna cum laude, and 18 graduated cum laude. Twelve students were named to Order of the Coif, an honorary scholastic society that encourages excellence in legal education.
The Student Bar Association Teacher of the Year and Staff Member of the Year awards were also presented at the awards ceremony. Murchison was named Teacher of the Year, and Denise Jensen, law library assistant, won the staff award.
PROFESSOR Brian Murchison, who is retiring from fulltime teaching at the law school, gave this year’s commencement address. (Kevin Remington photo for W&L)
