As our very talented first year class enters their 6th week of law school, here are some thoughts I shared with them on their first day. 

At this moment, your past scores, grades, and successes as well as your past defeats, failures, and mistakes are behind you.You get to choose how you start your next chapter. Your mindset is in front of you.

Your attitude will determine your altitude.

Believe in yourself. You earned this.

Remember your why. Why you chose this path.

Nothing is more important to student success and the success of our great law school than the quality of our full-time faculty. Our faculty are teachers and scholars who offer a level of expertise, accessibility, support, encouragement, and interaction that many law schools don’t offer. They not only inspire our students, they inspire each other, and they inspire me. We are also very fortunate to have outstanding adjunct and emeritus faculty, and leaders-in-residence.

When I spoke to our first year students on the first evening of Orientation, I told them that it was important to “start with why.” I asked them to break into small groups and ask each other why they enrolled at CSU Cleveland-Marshall. I observed that no one talked about getting a job (although that, of course, is very important!). Rather, virtually all of them talked about using their law degree to make a difference and to advance justice.