The inaugural class of the Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law entered the lush and gleaming Kimmel Center Verizon Hall on May 27 as a symphony played “Summon the Heroes.”

The musical selection was an appropriate way to greet the Class of 2009, Founding Dean Roger Dennis said, because the 160 graduates are the heroes of Drexel Law’s 2006 launch.

“You engaged in the usual extraordinary efforts of all law students, and you willingly participated in building the institution of Drexel Law,” Dennis told the graduates as their families, university officials and representatives of the Philadelphia legal community gathered to celebrate Drexel Law’s inaugural commencement.

“With you, we created the classroom curriculum, our experiential education program, the pro bono program and a myriad of co- and extracurricular activities. You succeeded in the classroom, in all of your co-op placements and clinics, in competing successfully in moot court and trial team competitions, and in creating a superb law review,” Dennis said.

The commencement capped Drexel Law’s exhilarating first three years and offered a bittersweet tribute to the vision of the late Drexel University President Constantine Papadakis, who announced plans to open the school in 2005 and died less than two months before the first class graduated.

“While Taki was understandably confident that a vibrant new approach to legal education could be created to incorporate Drexel’s strengths, I’m not sure that even he anticipated the great success that the Earle Mack School of Law has achieved so quickly,” Drexel University Trustee Chairman Richard A. Greenawalt said.

In his keynote address, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani urged the graduates to keep an optimistic outlook, to be true to themselves, to focus on solving problems and to be well prepared.

“The way to take fear out of something is to prepare,” he said. “If you anticipate everything else, you’ll be ready for the unanticipated.”

Interim Drexel University President C.R. “Chuck” Pennoni thanked Drexel Law’s faculty and administration as well as Philadelphia-area attorneys and judges who have assisted the school and its students.

“To the faculty and administrators who created a new and comprehensive program of legal education that prepares its students uncommonly well for the profession they are about to enter: thank you and I applaud your skill and commitment to scholarship and future lawyers,” Pennoni said. “To the many members of the legal community who have helped nurture this school, either by serving as advisors or as supervisors and mentors to our students: thank you and I applaud your support and enthusiasm.”

Drexel Senior Vice President Carl “Tobey” Oxholm, praising the class for performing 16,600 hours of pro bono service, exorted the graduates to “Get out there, make us proud and do justice.”

Despite the weak economy and job market, members of the Class of 2009 have advantages that will serve them well, said Earle Mack, the Drexel alumnus for whom the law school was named.

“You’re probably better prepared to enter the job market than any other law graduates in the country,” Mack said.

On behalf of the Student Bar Association, Jacqueline Lowthert and Marla Gaglione conferred the Dean Jennifer L. Rosato Excellence in the Classroom Awards upon Associate Professor David S. Cohen and former Visiting Professor Brian Foley. The graduates named the award in honor of Senior Associate Dean Jennifer L. Rosato, who was a member of the inaugural faculty and served as acting dean for over a year.

The graduates also conferred the Carl Tobey Oxholm III Outstanding Contribution to the Earle Mack School of Law Community Award upon former Associate Dean Teresa Wallace. The award was named in recognition of Oxholm, who played a central role in getting the law school started.

Class speaker Chadd Colin compared the diverse group of students to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, which prevailed although it had not initially resembled a championship group.

“Risk takers, motivated people willing to take control of their education, to start student organizations, to unselfishly serve the public interest, who would believe the school was going to excel,” Colin said of his classmates. “I stand before you to say the Class of 2009 is just what the nation ordered for a country looking for leaders. Who better than us to take risks and come up with creative solutions to problems? We’re ready and we can handle it.”

For more information, including images and video from Drexel Law's Inaugural Commencement Ceremony, click here.