Life as Dean (2008-24)

Yesterday at the Elks Tower Event Center in Sacramento, the Latinx Law Students Association held the 40th Annual Lorenzo Patiño Banquet. It was an inspirational celebration of the incredible Latinx law students at UC Davis School of Law. It was the first Patiño Banquet held in person since 2019 and it was one of the best ever. Many students, including 2L Ivette Arriaga, worked long and hard to make the event a success.

On April 21, UC Davis Law celebrated the Class of 2022’s commitment to the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the law school's annual Public Service Graduation in King Hall.

Our amazing 3Ls collectively devoted almost 30,000 hours to public service during law school! Congratulations to Dayja Tillman '22, who received the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award at the event.

This week, the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies presented the latest installment of the Free People of Color Lecture Series with historian Hidetaka Hirota of UC Berkeley. Professor Hirota, author of the book Expelling the Poor (Oxford, 2017), talked about his new book project the American Dilemma: The Problem of Foreign Labor in the History of U.S. Immigration Law. The United States has been deeply ambivalent about foreign labor in the United States.

Last week, UC Davis law students showed off their talents in the King Hall courtyard. At an open mic, students demonstrated their musical and singing abilities. It was a nice way to usher in the spring. Our students are talented indeed.

Picnic Day 2022 at UC Davis was festive this year and an in-person event. It was the 108th year of the campus celebration. I had the pleasure of being one of the announcers for the grand Picnic Day parade through the campus and downtown Davis. Stationed on Second St., me and my partner Elias, who is from Tuolumne California, had a grand time announcing the various entries, starting off with the UC Davis Marching Band. And the city was out in full force for a wonderful celebration.

Guest post by Professor Amagda Pérez

An impressive panel of Immigration Law Clinic alums spoke with students about careers in immigration law. Alums detailed their experiences in the Immigration Clinic as being the most positive learning opportunity. This set the foundation for their work as immigration attorneys, immigration policy advocates, advisors to Governor Brown and Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and clinical professors.

The end of year celebrations continue at UC Davis School of Law. Last week, the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association held its annual banquet at the campus alumni center. I stopped by to catch up with students, faculty (including Jack Chin, Clay Tanaka, Robert Miller) and alumni (including Judge Shama Mesiwala '98 and Gene Woo '85). The energy and joy was infectious, perhaps not the best word to use during a pandemic.

These students have had a roller coaster law school ride with much Zoom instruction. Still, they are ready and prepared for the practice of law!

At King Hall, we are proud of who we are: a tight-knit community made up of our beloved and diverse faculty, five decades' worth of accomplished alumni, and our many devoted and generous donors, volunteers, staff and friends.

Join us and support any of our incredible challenge gifts! Together, we can set records for the greater good in one communal day of giving.

Yesterday, I went with Senior Assistant Dean Brett Burns to see the new Edwards Family Athletics Center. The Center is a comprehensive strength and conditioning, sports medicine, and team facility that will benefit each of our 25 varsity sports programs.

UC Davis Athletic Director Rocko DeLuca and Assistant Athletic Director Rob Norris gave us a tour. It's an impressive facility that is slated to open in the fall. It will be an amazing addition to the UC Davis campus!

The 2021-22 school year is coming to a close and events are humming at UC Davis School of Law. Yesterday, the King Hall Office for Student Affairs hosted a First Generation Advocates Class of 2024 end-of-year social. Faculty, students, and staff celebrated the end of the school year and celebrated the Class of 2024, which nears the end of its momentous first year of law school. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fellow Alexis Elston welcomed the group in the King Hall courtyard. I was pleased to be part of the celebration and enjoyed the festive atmosphere.

Earlier this week, the UC Davis School of Law community welcomed (virtually) Congress member Jared Huffman to discuss "Environmental Policy, Politics and Law."

Professor Rick Frank, director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center,  introduced the Congress member, who has a long and distinguished record of public service.

This year, the UC Davis School of Law hosted the 2022 California Water Law Symposium on Water Law & Drought. The annual event, which was virtual the last two years, was held in person at King Hall. Students and faculty advisors from UC Davis, UC Berkeley, Golden Gate, Stanford, University of the Pacific – McGeorge, and the University of San Francisco put together a first rate group of water law panels.

This week, the Aoki Center on Critical Race and Nation Studies and the UC Davis Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion presented the UC Davis Hispanic Serving Institution Speaker Series with Professor Enrique Sepúlveda.

He talked about "Chicanx Education Activists: A Story of Mexican Farmworker Children Ascending to Institutional Liberal Power in a Northern California City."  The talk was based on his 2020 book titled Border Thinking: Latinx Youth Decolonizing Citizenship.

The intellectual life of UC Davis School of Law lives on. This week, the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies had Professor Benjamin Weber of the UC Davis African American Studies Department talk on “Anticarceral Internationalism: Rethinking Human Rights Through the Imprisoned Black Radical Tradition.” He reviewed the Black resistance throughout U.S. history, from efforts to release political prisoners to end police violence against African Americans.

 On Tuesday, April 5, I had the great pleasure of moderating a discussion with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. She began the event with insightful reflections on migration and human rights. I then had the opportunity to ask her more about her work with the United Nations.

High Commissioner Bachelet talked about how people leave their families, homes and communities driven by specific adverse situations such as violence and discrimination, climate change, poverty, lack of access to economic, social and cultural rights, among others.