Dean's MessageDear Friends of Santa Clara Law:It is a great pleasure to introduce this issue of Santa Clara Law. Our magazine for alumni and friends has grown in quality and ambition in recent years, and it continues to serve as a principal method of communicating with friends and alumni. I hope you are impressed with the law school’s wonderfully rich academic and professional climate that is reflected in the articles, stories, and news in this issue.
A law school is as good as its faculty, students, and graduates make it and Santa Clara Law continues to benefit greatly from its outstanding faculty, students, and alumni. Our graduates led the way in ensuring that the law school’s recently concluded capital campaign, From Promise to Prominence, was a great success. See Page 24 for a detailed campaign report. The law school is now reformulating its funding needs and calibrating them to continue the school’s growth, needs, and ambitions. We will be asking our graduates and friends to continue their support of the law school and its students, faculty, and programs, as we move into the next level of national prominence.
Santa Clara Law’s faculty members have been recognized nationally for their leadership in efforts to increase diversity in the legal profession. Santa Clara University has one of the most diverse law schools in the country and, to a considerable degree, that is due to the faculty’s perception that increasing the school’s diversity—in race, ethnicity, political perspective, religion, and other dimensions—will best prepare our students for the workplaces, contemporary issues, and courtroom dynamics they will soon experience.
This issue also continues to highlight Santa Clara Law people who are leaders in their communities and in the profession. Past issues described an innovative and popular law school course on the subject of lawyers as leaders and identified Santa Clara Law graduates who serve as leaders in government, law practice, international business, and other arenas (click here to view the complete archive of past issues). In this issue, we identify several faculty members who serve as leaders in legal education and the profession. The article also describes the leadership attributes and values that they bring to their professional roles. I think that you’ll be impressed with the significant roles they perform and you will understand why they are outstanding mentors to our students. Santa Clara Law is committed to educating men and women for leadership responsibilities when they graduate from the law school. These leaders on the Santa Clara Law faculty are a source of inspiration for our students—the next generation of lawyers who lead.
Finally, please consider "Reunion Weekend 2006," the article on the recent law alumni reunions. The law school hosted several hundred graduates and guests for two days of activities on campus. Our alumni and development staff are enhancing our reunion planning activities as we seek to better communicate with our graduates and keep you informed about the progress and ambition of the law school. Please begin thinking about your class reunion, and contact the alumni office to find out how you can serve on your class reunion leadership group.
I hope you’ll let us know your thoughts about this issue of Santa Clara Law and about the progress of your law school. Best wishes, DONALD J. POLDEN
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