Dear Friends,

I am frequently in awe of the vibrancy of our law school community, but never more so than on a recent Friday in April.

On just that one day, we welcomed more than 200 high school students from Andrew Hill High School in San Jose to Charney Hall for a day filled with mock classes, advice, support, and inspiration; conducted an admissions forum for admitted and prospective law students from around the country; and orchestrated a profound law review symposium dedicated to pressing issues in constitutional law.

Tremendous congratulations and thanks go to Kelly Rodriguez, who launched and teaches in our terrific Street Law program and to all of her students who surrounded the San Jose high school students with care and guidance, igniting their curiosity about the real possibility of their journey into law school and the legal profession. Thanks as well to Dean Caitlin Jachimowicz and her team for another successful admission event, and to our law review symposium editors, Gillian Spring and Audrey Plzak, our alumna Emma Sol, J.D. ’21 and our faculty who offered their expertise: Brad Joondeph, Evangeline Abriel, Michelle Oberman, Margaret Russell, and Marshall Anstandig.

Remarkably, on that same day, we also participated fully in the university’s annual convening: “Together at the Table: Inspiring Synodal Action in Mission.” A Synod, which means "traveling together," often functions as a consultative body advising a bishop or pope. Pope Francis’s papacy culminated in the Synod on Synodality, initiating a three-year inclusive and relational process of discernment through generous listening and reflective dialogue. Santa Clara’s synodal gathering was a wonderful opportunity for us to collaborate with the Jesuit School of Theology and see the impact of their work with other groups on the Mission Campus. Thank you especially to Lisa Kloppenberg and Teresa Kopriva for leading us in this powerful endeavor.

The keynote address was delivered by Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., who spoke beautifully and brilliantly about the value of true friendship, which is characterized by patient attentiveness, dynamic reciprocity, and an eagerness to embrace differences to find the fullness of humanity in each other. Through synodality, we encounter each other—opening ourselves up to the incredible diversity within our human family and learning to really see each other. We learn to sit with the discomfort of disagreement and with the art of asking questions that may not have immediate answers, but which allow us to accompany each other in discerning the answers together.

This synodal process complements the alternative dispute resolution skills that we teach our students, including mediation, conflict resolution, negotiation, and dialogue across differences. Last week, our signature Center for Global Law and Policy hosted a group of law students and faculty from Japan to engage in cross-cultural simulated negotiations and immersive experiences. Special thanks to Sarah Brockmeyer and Hallie Bodie, who perfectly managed all of the many details, and to Professor Laura Love who brilliantly taught interpersonal negotiation skills, with the help of Professors Josh Jachimowicz, Etsuo Doi, and Phil Jimenez, and with the vision and leadership of Dean Mike Flynn. During the feedback sessions, the students reflected on the importance of asking questions. As Professor Laura Love so adroitly reflected back to the students, asking questions can be a very powerful way to connect, but only if you really listen attentively to the other person’s response to the question.

Those synodal qualities describe very well the way in which we treat each other in our Santa Clara Law community. They were also on full display as we celebrated Carmo Correia on the occasion of her retirement after 24 years of great devotion to our community. And they were at the forefront of our celebration for the graduates of our inaugural Flex JD class. Those graduating Flex students joined us from all walks of life and achieved their law degree amidst all of their other professional and personal obligations. They are a remarkable class of graduates, who have established life-long friendships and relationship-building skills which will empower them to serve their clients and their communities with wisdom and grace.

That same spirit of wisdom and grace is embodied by our alumna and colleague Mary Procaccio-Flowers. Professor Flowers was just appointed to the bench and will serve on Santa Clara County Superior Court. After graduating summa cum laude from Santa Clara Law in 2012, she returned in a teaching capacity in 2019 and has shared her brilliant expertise on patent and trade secret litigation, legal writing, jury law, and more with our students year after year. Our entire law school community joins in congratulating her on this appointment, which is so well-deserved.  

With warm regards and great gratitude for the blessing of being a part of our incredibly vibrant community of friends,  

 

Michael J. Kaufman
Dean and Professor of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law