111th BLS Commencement at Lincoln Center

On Friday, June 1, 2012, Brooklyn Law School held its 111th Commencement Ceremony at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. Some 440 graduating students received their Juris Doctor degrees. The Hon. Carol Bagley Amon, Chief Judge of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, gave the commencement address to the Brooklyn Law School Class of 2012.

The speakers reminded the graduates to be humble as Judge Amon told them to remember in the future to answer the phone when their mothers called. Class Valedictorian Justin L. Sowa gave the valedictory speech to his classmates. In the Invocation, Rabbi Joseph Potasnick, BLS Class of 1986, reminded the Class of 2012 to be humble, not haughty, by telling the story of former Senator Bill Bradley who attended a dinner at which he was a guest speaker. A waiter set down a side dish of potatoes and placed a single pat of butter upon them. When the Senator asked for an extra portion of butter, the server replied "I’m sorry sir, one pat per guest." Senator Bradley looked up at the formal steward. "Excuse me," he said. "Do you know who I am? I am New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley." The Senator cleared his throat. "I am a Rhodes scholar and a former NBA star. I currently serve on the International Trade and Long-Term Growth Committee, and the Debt and Deficit Reduction Committee, and I am in charge of Taxation and IRS Oversight. And I’d like another pat of butter on my potatoes." The waiter in turn asked "Do you know who I am? I am the one in charge of the butter."

Among the Class of 2012, five received their degrees Summa Cum Laude: T. Daris Isbell, Jenny Lee, Brandon Carl Novelli, Robert B. Sobelman, and Justin Loughran Sowa. Thirty-six students received their degrees Magna Cum Laude and eighty-seven students received their degrees Cum Laude. The full list of students graduating with honors is here. A list of Commencement Prizes and Awards for the Class of 2012 is available here.