下面这段youtube链接是Prof. Amy Barrett我们圣母大学法学院2018届毕业典礼上的发言，我已经将其整理成了文字稿。即使现在我不在法学院、在商学院读书了，她的教诲让我始终铭刻在心，并且用力践行和诠释我们法学院的校训：Educate a different kind of lawyer。
Using them as the superpower that I hope that we have given you during your time here because words are our essential tools of the trade.
Accountants work with numbers; doctors work with the body and lawyers work with words. Words brings contracts to life. They transfer property. They give force to statues and judicial opinions. You know now better than most people that words have power. And today I want to encourage you to use that power wisely.
What you say reflects who you are and what you believe, and not everyone will love who you are and what you believe, but have the courage of your convictions. Don’t be afraid to use to your words just because they may earn you contempt. That’s tough to do; who doesn’t prefer to be loved to being hated.
Choose your words wisely. But if they reflect what’s good and what’s true, don’t be afraid to say them. No one can accomplish real good in the world if they calibrate their lives to what other people think of them. Martin Luther King Jr. was not out to win a popularity contest. Don’t speak recklessly but speak fearlessly.
Now the fact that your words reflect who you are does not mean that your words should be all about you. Quite to the contrary, use your words in the service of others. As you enter the profession, keep in mind what the language of the law has to teach us about that. Diseases are named after the doctors who identified them, and so we have Down’s syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease. The same is true for inventions, and so we have Braille and pasteurization. It’s also true for statues. Some of you have studied the Sarbanes-Oxley act. But cases are different. Cases are not named after the lawyers who litigated them or the judges who decided them, but after the people whom they had the greatest effect. The connection of the law to the lives of real people is hardwired into the language that the lawyers speak. Your constitutional law case book does not contain a case called John Marshalls triumph or the judicial review case. It contains Marbury vs. Madison. You leave law school remembering Helen Palsgraf’s injury at the train station and the Brown family’s fight against the Topeka Board of Education.
You also carry with you the names that are the reminders of the law’s tragedies. Dred Scott stands with us still. Never forget that the law is developed for people, for the flesh-and-blood people whom you will now serve. And all of you, whether full-time or pro bono, should use the legal language that you now know to be a voice for the voiceless. Remember the words that the Book of Proverbs speaks to the lawyers, “open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.”
Of course, your facility with language, the superpower with which you graduate today, won’t affect only your life at the office. Your friends and family may have already seen that being a lawyer has become part of who you are. You’ve got a superpower now and with great power comes great responsibility. Choose your words wisely. Lawyers get a bad rap for wanting to argue things into the ground and I’m sorry to say that there is some truth to the stereotype, when you’ve been trained to argue, it can be hard to let that go. Sometimes, you should let it go even if you are right. I don’t care how right you are about the merits of your favorite basketball team: what is the point of arguing with Professor Garnet about Duke basketball. So sometimes let it go even if you’re right, but when you are wrong, you must let it go. That’s true professionally when you have to correct the record and it’s true personally when you have to roll back something you’ve said to a friend. Hold on to the wisdom of Winston Churchill who said, “In the course of my life, I often had to eat my words and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.” Class of 2018, be prepared to eat up. Be careful with your superpower. Watch when you should speak and when you should stay silent. It’s just not true that “The sticks and stones can hurt my bones but words will never hurt me.” Harsh words stick around. Biting your tongue means being willing to hurt yourself before you hurt someone else.
Class of 2018, use your words to build up, rather than to tear down. Be kind, seek forgiveness, and give it, too. Lawyers might have a particularly hard time forgiving. We are trained to spot injustice and that can make it particularly hard to be on the receiving end of it. Mother Theresa gives good advice. She says, “people are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; forgive them anyway.”
Class of 2018, use your superpower for the good. Your education lies behind you; your career lies in front of you. And today, be filled with gratitude for everything that you have been given and everything that you will receive in the future.
The most important word for today is congratulations. So, let’s let the celebration begin.作者: 王翠西 时间: 2020-9-24 04:40:02
【这是我校Ins发的最新动态】
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, professor of law and a 1997 graduate of Notre Dame Law School, was nominated today to the Supreme Court of the United States to fill the vacancy created by the death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
She is the first Notre Dame graduate and faculty member to be nominated to serve on the nation’s highest court.
“The same impressive intellect, character and temperament that made Judge Barrett a successful nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals will serve her and the nation equally well as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court,” Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., said. “An alumna and a faculty member of Notre Dame Law School, Judge Barrett has epitomized the University’s commitment to teaching, scholarship, justice and service to society. She is a person of the utmost integrity who, as a jurist, acts first and foremost in accord with the law. I join her colleagues in the Law School and across the campus in congratulating her on the nomination, and wish her and her family well through what has become, sadly, a personally bruising confirmation process.”作者: 王翠西 时间: 2020-9-27 06:27:21
【这是我们新上任的Dean Marcus Cole（牛顿院长去年退休了）在法学院Ins发的动态】
“Judge Amy Coney Barrett is an absolutely brilliant legal scholar and jurist. She is also one of the most popular teachers we have ever had here at Notre Dame Law School. Judge Barrett is incredibly generous with her time and wisdom while mentoring her students,” said Marcus Cole, Dean of Notre Dame Law School.
“On a personal note, she is one of the most thoughtful, open-minded, considerate and kind people I have ever met. She lives a life of humility and grace, devoted to her family and community. Judge Barrett has served our nation with true distinction from the bench, and would continue to do so if she were confirmed to serve on our nation’s highest court.”作者: 狸猫火锅 时间: 2020-9-29 15:38:04