Dear Graduates:

Law School Commencement is just around the corner—it will be here before we know it. I write to express my congratulations on your graduation from the Delaware Law School, and to offer you some thoughts as the commencement ceremony, your preparation for the bar exam, and your entry into our great profession all approach.

I am looking forward to being with you at our commencement ceremony on May 20, 2017. Commencement is a time for you to reflect with pride on your accomplishments on completing your legal studies. For those of you who will be soon taking a bar exam, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that your education at Delaware Law has prepared you well to begin your intense next few months of buckling down to study the bar exam materials in depth. The bad news is that you cannot quite relax and take a break yet—studying for the bar is hard work, and the time to celebrate in earnest will be after that exam!

Let me end by saying that above all, the Delaware Law commencement is a time to share your feelings of joy and pride with family members and friends who have offered their support and encouragement to you along the way. I still remember, to this day, the teary expression of pride on my father’s face the day I walked across the stage to receive my law degree. I recall as well the pride and the tears I have felt at the graduation ceremonies of my own children. My hopes for you are that Commencement day will be a special one for you, which you will always remember, and that your studies here will propel you to accomplish great things.

Warm regards,

Rodney Smolla

Dean and Professor of Law