Summer 2007 | News Briefs

Commencement 2007 Circumstance Emphasized Over Pomp

Above left: Nonnie S. Burnes ’77-’78 delivered the keynote address. Left: Students Yael Shy and Andrew DeVoogd spoke to classmates about the future.

Dean Emily Spieler was proud of the School of Law’s graduating class and vocal about it.

Because of their Northeastern education, she said at the May 25 commencement ceremony, graduates “know more about how to practice law,” and also “how to think about the law.” “You’re poised to be great thinkers and great leaders,” Spieler said, praising the class for knowing “not only the mechanics, but also the soul of the law.”

Nonnie Burnes ’77-’78, named earlier this year as state insurance commissioner after serving as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, told the class of 213 tales from her own career. “It’s been a wild ride,” Burnes said of the three decades since she graduated from the School of Law.

“To be a great lawyer, you have to have an attitude — the right attitude,” Burnes said. “Don’t look at the hazards; look at the opportunities.”

She recounted stories of lawyers who performed ethically and in the public interest despite pressure, including those forced out of the Nixon administration during the “Saturday Night Massacre” of October 1973. “Every day, lawyers are offered the opportunity to advance the public good,” she said. “You just have to train yourself to look for the opportunity …. Seize that opportunity and be a great lawyer.”

Burnes was honored with a doctorate of public service, as were Boston lawyer Michael Greco, past president of the American Bar Association, and Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the US Court of Appeals. Associate Professor Daniel Williams also addressed graduates, urging them to “practice law with a little bit of the vagabond spirit,” he said. “What matters is not what happens — what matters is how we respond to what happens.”

Graduates Andrew DeVoogd ’07 and Yael Shy ’07 each spoke briefly, DeVoogd telling his fellow students to “carve out a little tranquility for yourself” and Shy asking them to consider what kind of lawyers they want to be. “It’s so tempting, now that we know how the game of law is played, to play it,” she said. “I hope we can all dare to be powerful at this time of change. I hope we can all dare to use our strength.”

To view the commencement photo album and read Commissioner Burnes’ address, go to
the online album.

PHOTOS BY CRAIG BAILY/NU Photography