Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today gave the Commencement Address to the 1996 graduating class of St. John's University School of Law. Over 400 Juris Doctor degrees were conferred on the Class of 1996. Among the distinguished St. John's graduates who joined Mayor Giuliani included members of the judiciary, such as Hon. Donald De Riggi, Hon. Marilyn Diamond and Hon. Patricia Satterfield.
"From Governor Cuomo to Governor Carey to Former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, you are joining an esteemed list of lawyers who have made great contributions not only to the State of New York but to the nation," said Mayor Giuliani. "While you enter an increasingly competitive profession, remember that with competition comes opportunity, with opportunity comes reward.
"Do not listen to the cynics, the ones who have soured on the profession and dismissed their ideals. That is the easy way out. It is harder to maintain your ideals and fight for them," added Mayor Giuliani. "You will find the practice of law as stimulating a profession as there is. As a lifelong lawyer, I have found that the intellectual challenges in the law are second to none."
Among the most accomplished graduates of this year's class include a quadriplegic who overcame her disability to become a worldclass wheelchair sports athlete. Jeannie Waters, a Dean's list law graduate, won two bronze medals at the Seoul Paralympics in 1988 and a gold and silver medal in Barcelona in 1992 in the quadriplegic class of wheelchair racing. She has also broken world records in the 200m and 400m races.
Founded in 1925 as a law school dedicated to educating children of working class and immigrant families in New York, St. John's has continually grown and expanded. From its humble beginnings, the School's student body has grown to include representatives from all parts of the nation and world. During the first year of the law school, classes were taught at the Terminal Building at 50 Court Street in Brooklyn. The following year, the School's growth forced it to lease additional space from its neighbors at the Annex on Court Street, Brooklyn.
After occupying a 14-story building on Schermerhorn Street in downtown Brooklyn, which soon became too small for the growing law school, it moved to the Queens Campus where most of St. John's University is located today. However, this space soon became inadequate for the ever expanding School. In 1991, the School celebrated the groundbreaking of Finley Hall, which would more than double the size of the School. The new space includes a larger, modern library with additional classrooms and a new cafeteria.
University Provost Tony H. Bonaparte conferred the degrees on the graduates.