More than 180 students will receive the Juris Doctor, Graduate Diploma in Comparative/Civil Law and Master of Laws degrees at Commencement Ceremonies scheduled for Friday, May 27, announced Chancellor Jack M. Weiss. Ceremonies will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on the LSU Campus. The LSU Law Center Class of 1961 Golden Graduates will also participate in the ceremonies.
Mr. Joel Klein, a prominent attorney, education leader, and news executive, will deliver the commencement address. Klein served as Deputy White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton and is the former Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, where he earned a reputation as a transformational leader of the largest public school system in the United States. In January 2011, Klein was named CEO of the Educational Division and Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman, at News Corporation.
“Joel Klein’s diverse and distinguished career exemplifies the many uses to which legal training can be put by someone who is determined to improve the lot of his fellow citizens,” said Chancellor Weiss. “Chancellor Klein has made his mark at every step along the way: as Supreme Court law clerk, distinguished appellate advocate, deputy White House counsel, the nation’s chief antitrust lawyer, international media executive, reform Chancellor of New York City schools, and now as a creative entrepreneur at the intersection of digital communications and education. He embodies Justice Brandeis’ vision of ‘civic courage’. I’m confident that Chancellor Klein will be an exciting and inspiring commencement speaker.”
Inductees in The Order of the Coif, a national honorary law fraternity for students deemed eligible and graduating in the top ten percent of the class, will be honored in separate ceremonies at the Law Center prior to Commencement. The Order of the Coif awards program will begin at 8 a.m. in the LSU Law Center’s McKernan Auditorium.
Information for the public follows.
Commencement Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Pete Maravich Assembly Center, LSU Campus
Entrances: Southeast Portal; Southwest Portal
Special Needs Access: Floor Level – Southeast Portal; Concourse Level – Portal W for elevator
Parking: North Assembly Center; Tennis Court Lot; Kirby Smith Lot; West Graham Hall; West Campus Apartments;; Nicholson Lot; Bernie Moore Track Stadium; Burden Oak
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Joel I. Klein
Biography
In January 2011, Joel I. Klein became CEO of the Educational Division and Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman, at News Corporation.
Prior to that, Mr. Klein was Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education where he oversaw a system of over 1,600 schools with 1.1 million students, 136,000 employees and a $22 billion budget. He launched Children First in 2002, a comprehensive reform strategy that has brought coherence and capacity to the system and resulted in significant increases in student performance.
He is a former Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann, Inc., a media company, and served as Assistant U.S. Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice until September 2000, and was Deputy White House Counsel to President Clinton from 1993-1995. Mr. Klein entered the Clinton administration after 20 years of public and private legal work in Washington, D.C. He attended New York City’s public schools and graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School.
He received his BA from Columbia University where he graduated magna cum laude in 1967, and earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1971, also graduating magna cum laude. He has received honorary degrees from Columbia University, Duke University, Amherst College, Manhattanville College, Georgetown Law Center, Fordham Law School, New York Law School, and St. John’s School of Education. He received the Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City from New York University for his work as Chancellor.
