2009 J.D. Speaker

Graduation remarks, May 21 2009:

Fellow graduates, faculty, family, and friends:

I am honored to stand before you this afternoon, as a representative of the Columbia Law School graduating class of 2009. I do so humbly, but understanding that I have a responsibility to urge my fellow graduates to do more as lawyers than just win cases and negotiate deals. I firmly believe in the creed articulated by civil rights architect Charles Hamilton Houston—in his words, a lawyer is “either a social engineer or a parasite on society.” Social engineers work tirelessly to solve human problems, invoking their fluency in the language that is law to benefit other people. They stand up for what is right, even when it might be unpopular to do so. The burden of being social engineers now rests with us. We must strive to be instruments of social change, not guardians of the status quo. We have an obligation to be lawyer-citizens, professionally charged with making, shaping, and enforcing the law, and socially compelled to leverage our power and privilege to advance the cause of the collective good. For the last four years, from applying for admission to applying for graduation, we have continually asked ourselves about the value of a Columbia Law degree: Which doors will it open? What new opportunities will it bring? These questions frame our legal education in terms of the costs and benefits to ourselves.

By chance or by destiny, we enter the legal profession in a time of great need. The country is poorer, sicker, and less educated than at any time in recent history. The world is plagued by crises in health, human rights, and economics all at once, and the earth continues to warm precipitously. Somehow, endless war has become the norm, Wall Street’s moral and ethical bankruptcy has gone ignored, and our obsession with individualism has extinguished nearly all concern about social responsibility.

But the winds of change are blowing, the tide of hope is rolling, and the cries of humanity resound louder and louder. And here we sit, faced with an unprecedented opportunity to stand ahead of history, to bend it toward justice and usher in the dawn of a new day. We can be the advocates who give a voice to the voiceless, who bring hope to those engulfed in a dark cloud of despondency. We can work to ensure full and equal participation in this social union we call democracy.

The world needs advocates to push forward the cause of change. The world needs us, with our diverse talents and passions, to commit to the cause of humanity. We need to think about our legal education in a different light and ask ourselves a different set of questions: What honor can we bring our degree? What honor can we bring the profession? How can we use our knowledge and skills to improve the lives of others? To advance the cause of justice? How can we make the world a better place? I believe that the model answers to these questions live in the legacies of our predecessors; the answers are revealed by gazing down the roads traveled before us.

The answers rest in the life and legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who graduated from Columbia Law School 50 years ago. She stood up when others were still sitting down, blazing a trail for women in the halls of justice. The answers can be found in the life and legacy of Jack Greenberg, a Columbia Law School graduate and civil rights crusader. He has fought unwaveringly against racism and bigotry to move society toward equality. To answer these questions one need look no further than the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who went from Columbia Law School to the Presidency of the United States. He brokered a New Deal for America to support human dignity.

Like so many others, these lawyers used their legal talents to stand up for social progress, even in the face of massive resistance. We inherit that same responsibility. We must argue the case for a better tomorrow. We must persuade the jury of society that the possibility exists for a better world: that conditions can change, human dignity can be respected, and justice and equality can be guaranteed for all—people of every race, gender, sexual orientation, and religious belief.

We face a monumental task, but it is one that is not impossible. It requires that we learn and work. While we are officially graduating from law school today, we must remain students—students of the world with an insatiable hunger to learn more about the problems on the horizon. And, we must do the work, a work that begins with service. For, we cannot change the world if we do not serve the world, and our commitment to that cause must be greater than our desire to benefit ourselves.

In closing, I ask that you take a moment and reflect on your time here at Columbia Law School. Think about how far you have come. Now take a second and think about where you will be 20 years from now. What might be said of your body of work? What might be written? Will you have brought honor to your degree? Will your legacy be worthy of emulation?
If you are ready to take up this challenge, to grab the torch of progress and continue the march toward righteousness; if you are ready to take up the cause to advance the collective good; if you refuse to be a parasite on society: stand up. Stand up for justice where you see its miscarriage. Stand up for peace, where unnecessary conflict persists. Stand up for right where there is wrong. Columbia Law School graduating class of 2009, stand up! Stand up, and together let us do our part to engineer a better world.

Thank you.
 

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Andrew LeGrand ’09 traces his interest in education law to his childhood, when he came to view school as a “safe haven.” His mother, the sole provider for LeGrand and his four siblings, worked two jobs until a disability kept her home, and at age 14 LeGrand earned his first paycheck at CiCi’s Pizza in Arlington, Texas. His mother inspired him to work hard, and, he says, “My escape into education allowed me to overcome the hardships of being poor.”  

LeGrand’s academic path was different from that of others attending schools nearby, he says. He contrasts his public high school, which was racially and economically integrated, and offered resources like internet access, with others that didn’t have enough books for everyone. “I had some of the best teachers, but I also attended a school that allowed teachers to excel at their jobs,” he says.

After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, LeGrand spent a year substitute teaching and then earned a master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. As he learned about the impact that law can have on educational opportunity, he decided it would be advantageous to complete both an Ed.D. and a J.D. at Columbia.

Professor Susan Sturm’s interdisciplinary seminar Diversity and Innovation was a natural fit for LeGrand. Classes in corporations and tax law, though not obvious matches with his interests, allowed him to gain valuable substantive expertise.

“You have to refine your skills and knowledge of the law before you can be effective as an advocate,” he says. “There’s no substitute for the analytical skills I’ve enhanced while here.”

After graduation, LeGrand will move with his wife and their two daughters to Dallas to start in November as a litigation associate at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. In the interim, he plans to finish research on his dissertation, which examines higher education decision-making around diversity. He intends to use his legal background to one day pursue a career advancing educational equality.