Welcome Back—Fall 2024
Dean Daniel Abebe welcomes the community back to campus and reflects on the common values that are central to the Law School.
Dear members of the Columbia Law School community,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you as we begin the 2024-2025 academic year. For those of you who are new to Columbia Law School, I am proud to join this extraordinary community alongside you. For those of you who are returning—as faculty, staff, or continuing students—I am eager to continue to learn from your insights and experiences.
The start of the fall semester provides us with the opportunity to look forward. Significant momentum has begun to gather over the summer as we commenced the massive project of renovating our Law Library and welcomed a new member of our full-time faculty, Clinical Professor Dennis Fan ’15. At the University level, steps have been taken to strengthen our campus climate, clarify and update conduct rules and guidelines, and centralize the process for addressing allegations of discrimination and harassment. All of us contribute to making our community an intellectually rigorous, respectful, and welcoming place, and I am committed to advancing Columbia Law School’s mission together with you.
Throughout the past month, I have spent much of my time meeting with faculty, students, staff, and alumni. The energy, richness, and diversity that you bring to Columbia Law School are remarkable, and I have learned so much about this great institution from our conversations. I look forward to hearing from and getting to know you over the coming weeks and months.
My conversations with you also suggest that this is an ideal moment for us to reflect on and affirm the common values that I believe constitute the intellectual architecture of this exceptional institution. First, we must foster the conditions that enable free expression, while graciously granting each other latitude to test new ideas. Second, we must make space for debate and disagreement in the pursuit of knowledge, while ensuring a respectful educational environment free from discrimination. Third, we must uphold the ability of individuals to engage in peaceful demonstration, while doing so in a manner that does not impede the teaching, learning, and research activities that are core to our mission, or undermine the administrative functions that make our mission possible. And, fourth, our great Law School must refrain from taking institutional positions on political or social issues that do not directly affect its mission, thereby empowering faculty and students to express their views openly and individually on the issues most important to them. These values are complementary and will not only serve us in the current moment, but also provide a foundation for our continuing greatness.
As your Dean, I am deeply committed to advancing these values so that our community—all of you—can continue to flourish in the pursuit of excellence. I believe that Columbia Law School has a special responsibility to uphold these values and, when they are inevitably challenged, I have deep faith that we will serve as an example for others to follow.
Thank you for all the ways in which you contribute to and enrich the life of Columbia Law School, and for your partnership in realizing our shared aspirations for its future. Best wishes for a fulfilling and enlightening semester, and I look forward to seeing you on campus.
Sincerely,
Daniel Abebe
Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law