Law, SOLES, PCE Celebrate Class of 2018 on First Graduation Weekend

The first weekend of University of San Diego Commencement for the Class of 2018 took place on May 19 and 20 provided the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences and two master's degree programs connected to the Division of Professional and Continuing Education to celebrate student success, offer words of wisdom from alumni commencement speakers and to send students into a world that truly needs their time, talents and treasures.

School of Law

The USD law school feted its newest juris doctoral class along with numerous LLM candidates who gained expertise in criminal law, environmental and energy law, business and corporate law, comparative law, international law, taxation and a few who received a Master of Science in Legal Studies.

The Law Commencement speaker, San Diego Padres Chief Operating Officer Erik Greupner '04 (JD), reminded graduates about the importance of their work, appreciation for his family's unwavering support and he praised the fact that nearly 50 percent of the law graduates this year were women and he asked them to stand up and be recognized.

The law graduation audience also heard a student address from Curtis Myles Jackson, honored three faculty members with the 2017-18 Thorsnes Prizes — Mila Sohoni, AB, MPhil, JD, earned hers for excellence in teaching and Roy Brooks, BA, JD, and Orly Lobel, LLB, LLM, SJD, each received theirs for outstanding legal scholarship. Also, Law School Dean Stephen C. Ferruolo, who missed the USD ceremony due to his daughter's graduation from Colgate University, offered congratulations to the USD law graduates via video message. Associate Dean and Professor of Law Margaret Dalton, BA, JD, presided over USD’s ceremony in Ferruolo's absence.

View the Law Commencement ceremony livestream replay now through May 26, 2018.

SOLES, PCE

The first of two Commencement Ceremonies involving USD graduate students took place on May 20 in the Jenny Craig Pavilion. This was the inaugural year for doctoral and graduate students in SOLES and master's degree recipients in Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership and the Cyber Security Operations and Leadership programs to have their own day of honor.

The remaining graduate students — those in Nursing, Business, Arts and Sciences, Peace Studies and Engineering — will be honored on May 26.

The addition of a graduation ceremony demonstrates growth in the number of stellar students attending USD and pursuing advanced degrees.

SOLES gave Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership Studies honors to 17 students. From there, SOLES master's degrees were awarded for specializations in clinical mental health counseling, school counseling, higher education leadership, leadership studies, marital and family therapy, nonprofit leadership and management, education (online and in classroom), curriculum and instruction with credential, special education with credential, and TESOL literacy and culture.

Professional and Continuing Education degree recipients accounted for 118 students participating in the graduation ceremony. The Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership master's degree program accounted for 69 of the graduates, continuing the momentum for the young program, which has already received a Top 10 ranking nationally. The other PCE-affiliated master's degree program, in Cyber Security Operations and Leadership, had 49 students walk in the ceremony. A few students will complete their degree requirements by August, but there is a growing demand to understand the complexities of cyber security and how to manage it in business. Many students are company owners or managers who want to gain insights in an ever-growing technological world.

In addition to graduating students, the audience heard from commencement speaker and USD alumna, Dima Ghawi '04 (MBA). An international leadership speaker and executive coach, Ghawi shared a personal story about the importance of leadership and that it is at its best when everyone is involved together, not one leader being separated and visibly showing that they are higher in stature than his or her team.

On these two days last week, hundreds of new University of San Diego alumni with law and leadership degrees were unified in receiving the keys toward a new chapter in their life's journey and to make a difference in our world.

View the Graduate Commencement I ceremony on a livestream replay through May 27, 2018.

— Ryan T. Blystone