Dean Robert C. Post ’77 Welcomes the Class of 2017

The halls of Yale Law School were once again bustling on Wednesday, August 27, as a new group of law students from the Class of 2017 gathered for convocation ceremonies to mark the start of the new academic year.

Dean Robert C. Post ’77 urged students to take in the moment and recognize that their collective paths over the next three years will result in significant changes. 

“In the coming years you will grow and change so profoundly that this moment will come to seem, from the perspective of your graduation day, like the first day of a new phase of your life,” said Post. “So pause, lean back, take a deep breath, and relish the many flavors that you are no doubt experiencing—take in the exhilaration, the promise, the anxiety, the triumph.”

During his address, Dean Post described the dazzling array of talents and backgrounds of the 200 students who make up the Class of 2017. This year’s class includes a single engine aircraft pilot, a Lindy-Hop dancer, an accomplished surfer, a roller derbyist, and a steel drum musician.

“So pause, lean back, take a deep breath, and relish the many flavors that you are no doubt experiencing—take in the exhilaration, the promise, the anxiety, the triumph.”

-Dean Robert C. Post 

The Class of 2017 also consists of three Peace Corps volunteers, three Rhodes scholars, one Marshall scholar, six Fullbright fellows, three Truman fellows, 10 Teach for America teachers, 10 members of the military, seven marathoners, and three triathletes.

Students come from eight different countries, 36 different states, and 77 different undergraduate institutions. Altogether, they hold 45 advanced graduate degrees in subjects that range from Environmental Engineering to Talmudic Studies. They have collectively lived and worked in 76 different countries, and read and speak 40 different languages.

In addition to the Class of 2017, 15 new transfer students are matriculating this semester to join the Class of 2016. Several dozen graduate students from around the world also arrived to begin their studies, including 27 LLM students, two MSL students, five JSD degree candidates, and five new PhD in Law candidates.

Post encouraged all students to take advantage of each other’s unique skill sets and use the world-class faculty and resources at Yale Law School to help master the many complexities of the law.

“Our educational philosophy is simple — we educate you so that you can make the law your own,” said Post. “In the next three years we shall try our best to provide you the tools, the discipline, the knowledge, and the desire to plough your own corner of this good earth, to discover what is new and unique in yourselves, to take joy in your own capacities, and to give to the world the special, particular blessing that only you can bestow.”