Class of 2021 Welcome Barbecue

1lbbq_2018

On Sunday, Aug. 12, the UC Davis School of Law community welcomed the Class of 2021!  Faculty, staff, alums, and second- and third-year students welcomed the incoming class at a BBQ on a warm and balmy August evening.  A longtime tradition at King Hall, the 1L BBQ is always one of the highlights of the school year.

I had the opportunity to welcome our new students.  Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid Kristen Mercado and Law Students Association President Max Engel `19 offered words of congratulations and encouragement to the new members of the King Hall community.  The theme of the remarks was the incredible spirit of community at King Hall.

The Class of 2021 is truly amazing.  I got a sense of that earlier in the day when I met with my mentee in the First Generation Advocates program, Raquel Campuzano-Santamaria, a UC Irvine graduate originally from the Fresno area. The Class of 2021, a group of about 200 students with amazing academic credentials, is diverse – people of color compose more than half the class, and women 58 percent of it.  And they have some inspiring and fascinating back stories. The class includes:

  • More than 60 students who are the first in their family to graduate from college
  • Nine alumni of the King Hall Outreach Program
  • Six military veterans
  • A student from the community-college Pathway to Law School
  • A crime-lab technician who testified as a forensic expert in trials
  • A student who tracked malaria and climate change in Kenya
  • And one who climbed Mount Everest

1l_bbq-icecream
I assured the group that although law school is challenging, it is nothing like climbing Mount Everest.

It was a wonderful evening.  Thank you to the great people in our Admissions office, including Kristen Mercado (“Dean M”), Joe Schneider, Alexis Elston, Montré Everett, Robyn Reid, Karen Sewell, and Manuel Alvarez, for admitting such an incredible class.

And this year, we topped off the evening with delicious Gunther’s ice cream, a local treasure that left everyone in high spirits.