Penn Carey Law’s 2025 graduating class was honored with a ceremony at the American Academy of Music.
On Sunday, May 18, the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School recognized the Class of 2025 graduates during a commencement ceremony at the American Academy of Music in Philadelphia.
This year, 251 students received JDs, 134 students from over 32 countries received LLMs, 3 received SJDs, and 34 received a Master in Law (ML) degree. New Jersey Governor Philip D. Murphy WG’83 delivered the commencement address.
Dean’s Welcome
Dean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law Sophia Z. Lee delivered her second commencement welcome as dean. She praised the way the Class of 2025 “dove into interdisciplinary learning,” highlighting the record number of graduates earning a joint degree.
Lee also noted the ways in which the class “bridged the classroom and the community,” with pro bono projects like the Compassionate Release Collaborative and the Veterans Law Project, while also reaching the finals of the National Moot Court Competition for the first time in years.
Lee referenced her own early tenure as dean after a decade plus as an instructor as a parallel to beginning a new career after law school, urging graduates to see this moment as an opportunity to mark their growth.
“[W]hat you gained here—your learning, your growth, your resilience—will carry into everything you take on next,” she said.
Lee spoke of the hope the Class of 2025 instills in her “at a time when foundational legal ideas are being reopened and reexamined,” with questions surrounding “our core commitments to equality and justice,” defining the “meaning of liberty, freedom, and the rule of law,” and how should law shape our economy, institutions, and global relationships.
“Just as you have fed my optimism in even the most challenging times, it gives me great hope and confidence in the future to know that you, the brilliant, resilient, humane Class of 2025, will be the ones helping us answer the most pressing questions of our time,” she said. “We are in good hands, indeed. Congratulations!”
Master in Law, LLM, and JD Representative Remarks
Aderonmu discussed the power of reinvention. Recounting his time as a financial professional in Nigeria, Aderonmu spoke about previously seeing the world through a specific set of constraints. When faced with possible shifts in regulations regarding funding for a renewable energy project, he realized the possible opportunities by asking, “What if we rewrite the rules?” Aderonmu declared his fellow ML classmates—from different professional, educational, and cultural backgrounds—are “proof that reinvention is institutional.”
“Law questions and compels us not just to ask how to work within constraints, but why do constraints even exist and whether they need to be shattered or rewritten entirely. That is why we came here,” he said. “Like many of my classmates, this degree didn’t just give us the legal skillsets, it awakened in us a sense of responsibility and a drive to challenge silos, and an understanding that genuine progress often begins with a willingness to question established norms.”
Bernardi spoke about the rarity of “friendship across language and differences” and finding a community in the 134 LLM graduates from over 30 countries. Invoking the University of Pennsylvania’s Latin motto displayed in Silverman Hall, “Leges sine Morbus Vanae”—laws without morals are useless—Bernardi urged his classmates to “commit to applying the law as an instrument of peace.”
“From now on, wherever our paths take us, let us embrace this motto and commit to applying the law as an instrument of peace,” he said. “May we use the law to help those who have fallen or are in need. Let us apply the law to restore human dignity, not to diminish or subjugate anyone. It is time we pursue a law of solidarity.”
Kirschenbaum spoke about the unity and resilience of the JD class of 2025, focusing on how the graduates were the first to begin law school and share an uninterrupted experience after the global pandemic altered many graduates’ time during undergrad studies.
“We’re a generation of lawyers who know what it means to navigate disruption, to adapt, and to rebuild,” he said. “We know what it means to fight for connection, for clarity, for justice, when rules keep changing and answers aren’t always obvious.”
That sense of shared experience, Kirschenbaum said, “created new traditions, gave fresh life to old ones, and helped bring Penn Carey Law to new places.”
“We don’t carry just legal knowledge, we carry lived experience of resilience, of adaptability, of refusing to give up when everything said we should.”
Alexander Diwan L’25, President of the Law School’s Council of Student Representatives, presented the Harvey Levin Memorial Teaching Award to Catherine Struve, David E. Kaufman & Leopold C. Glass Professor of Law. Sara Rajković LLM’25, LLM Class President and LLM Kubler Scholar, presented the LLM Teaching Award to William W. Burke-White, Professor of Law.
Commencement Address
Governor Murphy reflected on the “unique” and “highly commendable” atmosphere at Penn Carey Law, “where collegiality is revered and cross-disciplinary learning is cherished.” He reminded the Class of 2025 that each of those values would serve them well as they embark on the next chapter of their lives and careers, and “reflect two fundamental ideals that are sorely lacking in our world today: kindness and curiosity.”
Governor Murphy commended the over 25,000 hours of pro bono work performed by graduates and cited the Custody and Support Assistance Clinic and the Financial Literacy Project as representations of kindness in action while emphasizing those graduating with joint degrees and the Law School’s devotion to cross-disciplinary learning as a marker for curiosity in action.
“When you meld kindness with curiosity, there is a clear conclusion, or more accurately, a call to action,” he said. “And that is having the courage to take unexpected paths in life, while always bringing the best version of yourself along for the ride.”
Governor Murphy then reflected on his own varied career path, from finance, to domestic politics and international diplomacy, and finally on to state government. He urged graduates to “enthusiastically embrace the unexpected turns in life,” especially in the face of an “unprecedented and unpredictable time.”
“[A]s lawyers, you will soon be charged with making sense of, at times, a senseless world,” he said. “It is a big challenge, and one, I may add, you did not ask for. But it is also an opportunity. To lead, to rebuild institutions—or to build new ones altogether, or simply to be a force for justice.”
Next, Governor Murphy encouraged graduates to lead with an open mind—to not just claim a “seat at the table” but to “make room for more,” welcoming “new voices into the conversation” while seeking “insights from those who are too often told to stay quiet.”
“Kindness and curiosity are not just cushy ideals—they are key ingredients in the recipe for victory,” he said.
In keeping with the theme of embracing unexpected paths, Governor Murphy then urged graduates to face common challenges with moral awareness and internal guidance.
“If you ever find yourself in a position where you are forced to choose between the demands of a job and the demands of your conscience, always follow your head and your heart,” he said. “Even when they lead you down an unexpected, maybe an uncertain, or even dangerous, path.”
Governor Murphy concluded by referencing Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor who rejected a life of faith and peace to lead an active resistance to the Nazi regime in Germany in the 1930s. While Bonhoeffer’s life ended in tragedy, Governor Murphy said his story offers “an eternal and timeless lesson.”
“No matter how inconsequential our roles may seem, or how disconnected from structures of power we may feel, when we hear the call of our conscience: we must answer it,” he said.
Turning his attention to America’s justice system, Governor Murphy encouraged graduates of their “part to play in ensuring that this democratic experiment, which has endured for nearly 250 years, will endure for many more to come.”
“Go forth and fight for the future you envision,” he said. “Follow the unexpected path. Because the best lived life is rarely a straight line. Make room for new seats at the table—and seek wisdom from those who challenge you. Above all: Trust your head. Trust your heart. Stand your ground.”
“You will now lead us with that unshakeable commitment to kindness and curiosity that has shined on this campus. And you will emerge as an unstoppable force for justice, a force formidable enough to break down the walls of injustice—wherever they stand.”
A native of Boston, Governor Murphy earned a BA in economics from Harvard University and an MBA from the Wharton School in 1983. Before entering public service, he worked at Goldman Sachs for over 20 years, leading offices in Frankfurt, Germany, and Hong Kong before ending his time as a member of the firm’s management committee.
After his time at Goldman Sachs, Murphy served as National Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2006 to 2009. President Obama later appointed him U.S. Ambassador to Germany, a role he held from 2009 to 2013. He has also chaired both the National Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association and served on the national board of the NAACP.
