Addressing the Boston College Law School class of 2005, United States Senator for New Hampshire Judd Gregg urged the graduates to remain true to the principles upon which the Law School was founded.

“In 1929, tuition was $200,” Gregg said. “I guess it’s changed a bit since then. The Law School has grown and changed too…but it’s remained true to its essence…the first Dean wanted to train professionals, but also to teach the ideals of public service, leadership and integrity.”

Gregg went on to praise the Law School for its continued commitment to those ideals, and to ask the graduates to uphold them as they enter the workforce. “This Law School has given you a unique role in society,” he said. “In times of trouble, it is your responsibility…to uphold and interpret the Constitution…the law is, in final analysis, a moral statement made by a group of people who decide right and wrong. But it can only function properly if it is written and interpreted by people of integrity and decency.”

BC Law Dean John H. Garvey praised Gregg’s commitment to education and to public service, calling him an “influential advocate” for the nation’s student loan programs. “Senator Gregg provided critical leadership in saving the student loan program,” Dean Garvey said. “He has also served as chair of the Senate Education Committee, helped to reauthorize our nation’s special education law…and provided leadership in approving historic levels of federal funding for public education.”

Dean Garvey also offered a last word to the students before they entered the alumni ranks. “You have been in school for 20 years, some of you continuously,” he said. “I hope you will remember the last three of them with special fondness…congratulations on your success here, and God bless you all.”

Two hundred and fifty-three graduates received degrees at the Law School’s 73rd Commencement exercises. Receiving the school's highest awards, the Founders' Medals, were Mary M. Connolly and Michael Puzo, both graduates of BC Law, and Senator Gregg. Connolly, a former president of the Law School’s Alumni Association and a member of the Board of Overseers, is Executive Director of the Boston Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyer’s Project and has worked in public service for 35 years. Puzo, a double Eagle (BC ’74, BC Law ’77) and member of the Law School Fund Executive Committee, is Managing Partner of Hemenway & Barnes and serves as a trustee for a number of charitable foundations.

View the video from Commencement (RealPlayer Required; click here for help installing the plugin)

View the video from the Awards Ceremony

View a slideshow of images from the first Law School Admissions Bulletin. More...