Graduation 2025: Honoring a New Generation of Lawyers and Leaders

A hardy breeze blew across the South Lawn of Columbia University’s Morningside campus on Sunday afternoon, May 18, as more than 4,000 guests gathered beneath enormous tents to honor the accomplishments of the more than 800 members of Columbia Law School’s Class of 2025.

To the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance,” members of the 50th and 55th Reunion Classes led the Class Day procession, in keeping with tradition, followed by J.D., LL.M., E.LL.M., and J.S.D. degree candidates; Daniel Abebe, Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law; keynote speaker Steve Bullock ’94; and Law School faculty and administrators.

Following a video featuring members of the Class of 2025 sharing what their classmates have meant to them, Student Senate President Nicole Morote ’25 opened the program with a welcome. “Class of 2025 ... you have delivered,” she said. “You have been leaders. … You have been forces for good, in our neighborhood and around the world. ... So that is what we’re here to celebrate today—the students who made this place more principled, more thoughtful, and more human than it was before. And everyone who supported us in making that happen.”

Dean Abebe: “Show the World What It Means to Lead”

Morote introduced Dean Abebe, who joined the Law School in August 2024, making this his first Columbia Law Class Day. In his remarks, Dean Abebe celebrated the graduates as well as those who have supported them. “We commend and honor each and every one of you,” he said. “But we recognize that this occasion is not yours alone. It also belongs to all those who’ve supported you, motivated you, and given of themselves so you could have the opportunity of a lifetime—to study the law here at Columbia.” 

The Dean also urged graduates to draw on their legal training to break down the barriers that can arise from both online and societal echo chambers, where we “increasingly organize ourselves into self-contained, self-reinforcing, ideological bubbles. … But you, graduates, by virtue of your legal education here at Columbia Law, you are uniquely positioned to break down these barriers. That is because—more than any legal code or statute, more than any treatise or case—you have learned how to think. Not what to think, but how to think,” he said.

He went on to describe the powerful “foundational values” represented by a Columbia Law education: “You have felt the productive discomfort in service of learning. You’ve learned how to craft penetrating questions and test and refine potential answers. You know what it’s like to engage in open inquiry—to pursue truth regardless of where it leads. You’ve cultivated relationships with those whose backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences are wildly different from your own.”

He continued: “Remember to carry forward the mantle of Columbia’s proud and storied legacy—one dedicated to teaching law students how to be critical and independent thinkers committed to free speech, committed to constitutional democracy, and committed to a deep and profound respect for the rule of law. … And in moments like this, when our values have been challenged and our principles have been questioned, Columbia lawyers must show the world what it means to lead.”

Student Speakers Stress Empathy and Commitment

Vedant Chauhan ’25, graduation committee co-chair, introduced the J.D. class speaker, Amir Jones ’25, who, he said, “stands tall and proud as a first-generation lawyer.” 

Jones spoke of “graduating at a time of deep uncertainty—when transgressions of due process have come to our doorstep, and the force of judicial judgments hangs in the balance.” He said that the past three years have taught him that “the law does not animate itself. … The principles we believe in do not perpetuate themselves. They live through us, through our collective duty, our work, our advocacy, and our refusal to look away. And now, the license is ours, not just in the formal ABA sense but in the civic one. To go forward more boldly. To bear witness to the rule of law and defend the institutions that make it real. To heal the divisions with the humility and empathy our training has instilled in us. And to step into the arena not as spectators but stars of the next act.”

Graduation Committee Co-Chair Alix Eichenlaub ’25 LL.M. introduced the LL.M. class speaker, Rabita Madina ’25 LL.M., an Indonesian lawyer whom the class selected because of “her kindness, her sense of humor, her ability to bring people together, and, as most of us know, her outstanding, best-in-class culinary skills,” said Eichenlaub.

Madina described some of the things she learned from her LL.M. classmates, lawyers who hail from 65 countries with experience that spans the legal profession. “You taught me that diversity is not a weakness; it is a strength,” she said. “This very boiling pot of nationalities, cultures, and beliefs, this is what made us empathetic and supportive of one another.” Madina also spoke about her favorite Indonesian word—“sayang”—which she said means “love” but also “disappointment”; she encouraged her classmates to embrace the same duality. “We may be leaving this campus, but we’re also staying committed to this profession,” she said. “And while we may sometimes feel disappointed by how uncomfortable this profession can be, our love for a just and peaceful world will always carry us forward.”

Reese Prize Winner Clare Huntington ’96: “Our Relationships Matter”

Remington Pool ’25, graduation committee co-chair, presented Clare Huntington ’96, Barbara Aronstein Black Professor of Law, with the Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching, an honor bestowed annually by the graduating class. “It’s her devotion to teaching, to mentorship, and to advocacy that makes her so beloved by her students,” he said as Huntington looked on. “You make an immeasurable difference in the lives of your students. We are proud to call you an alum. And we are grateful to call you our teacher and our friend.”

Huntington said that receiving the award “means so much to me because I do love teaching. And one of the reasons I love teaching is because I had great teachers myself, including—when I was a law student here at Columbia—six of the Willis Reese Prize winners.” She also noted that when her father was a student at the Law School, he had Willis Reese as a professor.

The family law expert focused her remarks on relationships, one of the primary areas of her teaching and scholarship. “Our relationships matter to us personally, to our communities, and to our country,” she said. “We don’t tell you this enough in law school, so let me say it clearly now: As you go forth, yes, invest in your careers. And also invest in your families of origin, in your families of choice, in your friends, in your colleagues, the people in your communities, and the people not in your communities but with whom you can find a shared goal. And then come back, and tell us all about it, because we love to see you shine.”

Former Montana Governor Steve Bullock ’94: “Confront the Brokenness Head-On” 

Michael Gerrard, Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice and founder and faculty director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, introduced Bullock, the former two-term governor of Montana. “Every professor dreams that their students will go on to do great things,” said Gerrard. “It’s my great honor today to introduce one of my former students as today’s keynote speaker”

Bullock urged the class to be open to course adjustments on their career journey, to harness their legal mindset as their “superpower,” and to find “meaningful purpose” to their lives, “and, in so doing, make a difference.”  

Calling the state of the world “the most broken and turbulent period in my lifetime,” he said that the “pillars that make this country unique—economic opportunity, participation in government, the rule of law, free and fair elections, an uncensored and trusted media, academic freedom, a sense of community, and respect for neighbor ... [are] being tested. … Regardless of our political party or ideology, each of us has an obligation to not just respect those pillars; we have a responsibility to support and defend them.” 

Bullock encouraged members of the Class of 2025 to be involved in public service or make other positive contributions beyond legal practice. “Democracy is not an outcome; it’s a process,” he said. “Because of your Columbia Law education, because of our shared grounding, you’re uniquely qualified to confront the brokenness head-on and lead its repair,” he said. “And incorporate into your plans not just individual success but societal improvement. This is not a time to be on the sidelines.”

After the speeches, students crossed the stage as their names were announced to whoops and applause from their loved ones. And then they gathered on bleachers near Low Library for their class photo, tossing their tams into the air.

The graduates’ degrees were officially conferred at the University Commencement on May 21. At that event, three Law School alumni were recognized as Alumni Medalists by the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) for more than 10 years of distinguished service building the Columbia community: Reed D. Auerbach SIPA ’81, SIPA ’82, LAW ’85; Eric H. Holder Jr. CC ’73, LAW ’76; and Rich Richman LAW ’72, BUS ’73.