After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maurer School of Law will resume its traditional, in-person graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 7, at noon in the Indiana University Auditorium.
The Hon. Jed Rakoff, senior U.S. District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, will deliver remarks as this spring’s Commencement speaker. Rakoff had been invited to deliver the 2021 Commencement speech, but graciously agreed to postpone until in-person ceremonies resumed.
“We’re honored to welcome Judge Rakoff to Bloomington next month for what are sure to be inspiring remarks to our graduating students,” said Dean Austen Parrish. “His reputation as a visionary judge, scholar, and thinker is both well known and well deserved. I also want to extend my thanks to our graduation committee for their work in making this year’s ceremony possible.”
A renowned member of the judiciary, Judge Rakoff has served on the Southern District of New York since March 1996 after being appointed by President Bill Clinton. He frequently sits by designation on the 2nd and 9th Circuit Courts of Appeals. Judge Rakoff is an adjunct professor at both Columbia Law School and NYU Law School, and also teaches at Berkeley Law School and the University of Virginia Law School. He has written over 170 published articles, 750 speeches, and 1800 judicial opinions, and has co-authored five books. He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books.
Judge Rakoff has presided over a number of high-profile cases throughout his distinguished career, including United States v. Quinones, Associated Press v. Department of Defense, U.S. v. Adelson, and, more recently, U.S. v. Cesar Altieri Sayoc and State of New York v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In 2014, Fortune Magazine named Rakoff one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.” A 2017 book by Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Jessie Eisinger said “Rakoff has cried out about the injustice of the (criminal law) system. He has played a role to change the way the country addresses corporate criminals.”
This year’s Commencement ceremony will recognize members of the class of 2022, along with a few graduates who didn’t have the chance to participate in a previous ceremony due to the pandemic. Members of the Law School’s graduation committee are: Cole Byram, Sarah Chaney, Alexis Hatchard, and Alexis Jenkins.
The ceremony is expected to be livestreamed at broadcast.iu.edu.
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