Events on Friday included a celebration of the generosity of David Nierenberg ’78 and Patricia Nierenberg and an announcement that the dean’s office would be renamed in honor of the couple. The Nierenbergs have long supported initiatives at the Law School and at Yale. Among their extensive philanthropy, the Nierenbergs gave the first gift to the Hurst Horizon Scholarship Program to break down barriers to access in legal education. This year, 88 students at the Law School receive the need-based scholarship, which provides full-tuition for students with significant financial need.
The weekend was full of a series of lively panel events, discussions, and gatherings for the alumni community.
On Friday evening, a deans’ panel in Woolsey Hall featured Gerken and former deans Guido Calabresi ’58, Harold Hongju Koh, and Anthony Kronman ’75.
After introductory remarks by Frank Jimenez ’91, Tali Farhadian Weinstein ’03 moderated the discussion in which each dean reflected on various aspects of their deanships as well as what they appreciate about each other, their tenure in a historical context, and their most treasured memories in the role. The evening concluded with Gerken inviting the audience to sing “Happy Birthday” to Guido — who turned 92 on Oct. 18 — as he does for every faculty member on their birthday via telephone.
Saturday’s activities started with the dean’s annual State of the School address — with Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall ’76 delivering introductory remarks — in which Gerken highlighted the Law School’s remarkable accomplishments of the last decade and emphasized the importance of continuing the School’s tradition of excellence as it looks toward the next 200 years.
Gerken reflected on Yale President Theodore Woolsey’s vision for the Law School from 1874, which he said should be a “place of instruction in all sound learning relating to the foundations of justice.”
A broad-gauged vision of legal education should bring together “the best talents of the poor as well as the rich … for the benefit of the country.” One hundred and fifty years later, Gerken said, the Law School continues to live up to Woolsey’s vision of a unique approach to legal education. She outlined the newest initiatives that build on the School’s best traditions, like the rich and wide-ranging curriculum, dozens of innovative clinical offerings, a best-in-class financial aid program, the new Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech, and two innovative pipeline programs, Access to Law School and the Launchpad Scholars Program.
“Across the last 50 years, we have built out a model where practice and theory are pursued with equal ambition, where the finest clinicians and academics train the next generation to tackle impossible problems,” said Gerken.
The work continues, Gerken said, by inspiring other law schools by example.
“At this school, we create magic. But we don’t hoard it,” said Gerken. “Now is the moment to challenge our peers to follow the path we’ve blazed.”
Following the State of the School address, three alumni were presented with the Award of Merit, the Yale Law School Association’s highest honor.
This year’s recipients were José A. Cabranes ’65, Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit; Randall Kennedy ’82, Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School; and Barrington “Danny” Parker ’69, Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
