To the Graduating Batch of 2021,
Your last year/s with the happiest law school must not have been the happiest. Aside from the rigorous demands of fourth year law and the Bar review, you had to go through classes online, survive a pandemic, keep your family safe, get yourself together every single day. I salute you for reaching thus far. You all are truly blessed beyond measure to be where you are today.
However, more than congratulating you, I am urging you to give more from here on out than what you have been given in the past year. Our good Benedictine education has not been remiss in teaching us, in the words of writer Toni Morrison, “to remember that if we are free, we must free somebody else; if we have power, we must empower somebody else.” You are on your way to not just becoming a lawyer, but to becoming a good Benedictine lawyer – God-fearing and ever giving.
Congratulations, Batch 2021! Do not forget the past year and all that you have been given. Do not forget to give without asking for anything in return.
All my love always,
Papa Dean