Alumni Weekend 2023 Archive
October 20-22, 2023
More than 900 Yale Law School alumni and guests gathered in New Haven on Oct. 20–22 to reconnect with old friends, attend stimulating panel discussions, and enjoy celebratory reunion events during Alumni Weekend 2023.
In her annual State of the School address, Dean Heather K. Gerken focused on some of the Law School’s newest programs and initiatives that seek to redefine legal education. Gerken updated alumni on three of the biggest programs in the school’s history, the Launchpad Scholars Program, the Hurst Horizon Scholarship Program, and The Tsai Leadership Program, and explained how they fit together strategically.
Gerken also updated alumni on new faculty who have joined the Law School in the past year: Sarath Sanga ’14, Ketan Ramakrishnan ’21, and Natasha Sarin. Just a few days before Alumni Weekend, Gerken announced that Keith Whittington of Princeton University will join the faculty next year. A leading figure in constitutional theory and history, Whittington will continue his work on academic freedom and free speech through a new center that will be created with the support of the Stanton Foundation.
After the State of the School address, Gerken presented the Award of Merit, the Yale Law School Association’s highest honor, to six recipients: Eugene Ludwig ’73, former Comptroller of the Currency; Jean Koh Peters, Sol Goldman Clinical Professor Emeritus of Law; and a collective award to the founders of the Law School’s clinical program: Stephen Wizner, William O. Douglas Clinical Professor Emeritus of Law; Dennis Curtis ’66, Clinical Professor Emeritus of Law; and posthumous awards to Daniel Freed ’51 and Frank Dineen ’61.
In one of the weekend’s highlights, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton ’73 joined Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo ’98 for a wide-ranging conversation with Dean Heather K. Gerken on their remarkable careers in public service as part of the Changemaker Series.
The weekend also included a Changemaker Series conversation with Van Jones ’93, author, political commentator, and CNN host. Jones recalled his experiences as a law school student and urged students to “fight every day for what you believe in.” He also spoke to the audience about his efforts to work across party lines and find common ground wherever possible, including his work on bipartisan criminal justice reform that culminated in the passage of the First Step Act in 2018.
Other weekend highlights included a discussion on the challenges posed by artificial intelligence to the ABA Rules of Professional Conduct hosted by Professor William Eskridge ’78, the Alexander M. Bickel Professor of Public Law. Clinical Professor of Law Marisol Orihuela ’08 hosted a conversation on immigrant rights and justice with several alumni at the forefront of this work: Charanya Krishnaswami ’13, Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security; Efren Olivares ’08, Deputy Legal Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Immigrant Justice Project; and Nicole Hallett ’08, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Immigrants' Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School.
Class reunion dinners were held for all classes ending in 3s and 8s, with a special 50th reunion dinner for the class of 1973 on Friday evening. Alumni also attended the student/alumni breakfast and special reunion class activities throughout the weekend.
Video on AI, the Practice of Law, Legal Ethics, & Legal Education
Video on State of the School and Award of Merit Presentation
Video on A Conversation with Hillary Clinton ’73 and Gina Raimondo ’98
READ MORE: Award of Merit honorees
Reunion Volunteers
1963
Jack Guthman, James Hamilton, John Levin (Chair), Harry Mazadoorian
1968
Jim Goetz (Chair), Chuck Stark (Chair), Steve Weiner (Chair)
1973
Nancy Bekavac, Peter Baugher (Chair), Rufus Cormier, Gordon Fain, Joel Greenberg, Patience Tipton Huntwork, Daniel Kornstein (Chair), Martha Munsch, David Parker
1978
Bruce Allensworth, Jaime El Koury, William Eskridge, Rich Klapper, Gary Kubek, Penny Mason, David Nierenberg (Chair), Pat Profeta (Chair), Carl Reisner, Carolyn Williams (Chair), Steve Williamson
1983
Robert James, Andrew Kreig, Rhonda Joy McLean, Manley Roberts, Ulrico Rosales
1988
Jo Watson Hackl (Chair), Cynthia Lamar-Hart, Raymond Paretzky, Janet Stearns, Rosa Testani (Chair), Betsy Wanger (Chair)
1993
George Bischof, Elizabeth Blumenfeld, Miriam Herman, Matt Herrington (Chair), Alex Oh (Chair), Tom Prochnow, Michele Walters
1998
Gregory Chernack, Iris Chiu, John Collins, Amy Klein (Chair), Paul Mandell (Chair), Tomo Oshikawa, Hari Michelle Osofsky
2003
Richard Albert, Ben Au, Minor Myers III (Chair), Dixie Noonan, Larry Obhof
2008
Kristina Baehr, Matthew Bloom (Chair), Jason Green (Chair), Meryl Harrell (Chair), Anna Manasco, Tania Moayedi (Chair)
2013
Tessa Bialek, Raj J. Borsellino, Lindsey Counts, Janis Foo, H. Bola George, Kevin Lamb (Chair), Christopher Michael, James Shih
2018
Kyle Edwards (Chair), Richie Frohlichstein, Nick Gulino, Theodore Lee, Mattie Wheeler
Schedule of Events
Friday, October 20, 2023
10:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Registration Room Open
Room 122, Sterling Law Building
12:30-2:00 p.m.
All Alumni Welcome Lunch
The Courtyard, Sterling Law Building
2:00-3:15 p.m.
AI, the Practice of Law, Legal Ethics & Legal Education with Professor William Eskridge '78
Room 12 7, Sterling Law Building
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Paskus Danziger Rare Book Room Open House
Lillian Goldman Law Library, Level 2, Sterling Law Building
3:30-4:15 p.m.
Changemaker Series: A Conversation with Van Jones '93
Levinson Auditorium, Sterling Law Building
4:30-6:30 p.m.
Liman Center Reception
Room 128, Sterling Law Building
5:00-6:15 p.m.
Coffee and Tea in the Courtyard
6:15-6:30 p.m.
50th Reunion Class Photos
6:30-10:00 p.m.
50th Reunion Champagne Toast & Dinner
Lillian Goldman Library & Derald H. Ruttenberg Dining Hall, Sterling Law Building
6:30-9:30 p.m.
All Alumni Dinner
Schwarzman Center, 168 Grove Street
9:30-11:30 p.m.
Student Group and Alumni Receptions
Schwarzman Center Underground & Well, 168 Grove Street (Lower Level)
Saturday, October 21, 2023
7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Registration Room Open
Room 122, Sterling Law Building
8:00-9:30 a.m.
Connections: A breakfast with Yale Law School Students and Alumni
Derald H. Ruttenberg Dining Hall, Sterling Law Building
8:00-9:30 a.m.
All Alumni Breakfast
Alumni Reading Room, Sterling Law Building
8:00-9:30 a.m.
Health Law and Policy Alumni Breakfast
The Courtyard, Sterling Law Building
9:45-11:00 a.m.
A Conversation about Immigrant Rights
10:00-11:59 p.m.
Yale Law School hosted After Party at Olives and Oil Olives and Oil, 124 Temple Street
10:00-11:59 p.m.
Yale Law School hosted After Party at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale John Davenport's (Omni), 155 Temple Street
Sunday, October 22, 2023
10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
All Alumni Brunch
Derald H. Ruttenberg Dining Hall, Sterling Law Building