Congratulations, Graduates! Now Get the Hell Out
This is an open thread about graduation, JY protests, still-unfulfilled writing requirements, barbri study, inchoate post-graduation plans, and other fun topics.
Special recognition goes out to graduands posting between 9 and 11 a.m. And don't worry--it'll be better than the absolutely crap gifts they plan on giving the winners of the "class gift mod participation" competition. (The same mugs we got during 1L year? Off-brand "Boalt Hall" mouse pads? They couldn't fine anything that wasn't so obviously left over from the office move?).
Special recognition goes out to graduands posting between 9 and 11 a.m. And don't worry--it'll be better than the absolutely crap gifts they plan on giving the winners of the "class gift mod participation" competition. (The same mugs we got during 1L year? Off-brand "Boalt Hall" mouse pads? They couldn't fine anything that wasn't so obviously left over from the office move?).
Labels: Moving Out
posted by Carbolic at 3:16 AM
55 Comments:
Off-brand? "Vintage," please.
My family and I really enjoyed the ceremony. Goodwin was a spectacular choice for faculty speaker. I'm really glad we didn't have the afternoon ceremony as it is damn hot in Berkeley today. On a side note, Chemerinksy (sp?) was a poor choice for keynote.
Agreed on Chemerinsky. I didn't love his speech. I also thought that his comments regarding *certain* memos were in poor taste. I agree with the sentiment, disagree with the forum in which to raise that sentiment. Otherwise, a nice nice morning. Congrats to all of you!
More like, "Congratulations, graduates! See you Monday morning for BARBRI class."
my parents were surprisingly just as moved by chemerinsky as by liu. though his delivery was awkward, i liked the general message about finding happiness in one's work.
Wait...Cherinsky awkward delivery? No way!
Chemerinsky was offensive. I don't care that you disagree with Yoo's work (about 90+% of Boalt does), but calling a Berkeley faculty member "evil" during the graduation ceremony? Lacks taste.
Liu was great. As was the rest of the ceremony. Congrats to all!
PS, Boris nice spelling!
I'm on board with McWho on this one: I thought it was in poor taste to make disparaging remarks about a professor who works at the school that has invited you to speak.
I also thought the first five to seven minutes of Goodwin's speech were worthless. Making a rainstorm with clapping? Seriously?
Lastly, since nobody has talked about the protests... I thought they were absolutely awful. I went last year, and don't seem to remember them being nearly as bad. They were aggressive, offensive, and, in short, giant douche bags.
Hooray for graduation!
Not hooray for starting PMBR on Monday :'(
Chemerinsky was not good, and for the love of god, why does everyone have to reference the torture memos? Seriously, we get it. But this was about the Class of 2009, not the memos.
I thought Liu and Chemerinsky Liu were awesome, and so did my family members.
On a technical note: does anyone know where/when we're supposed to return the gowns? There was no one at Booth after the ceremony, and I wasn't able to go to the reception to see if they were collecting them there? Thanks!
Room 122. There was a place at the reception, but protesters blocked it for the first hour or so.
I was shocked at the speech by the class representatives. It was in very poor taste and sadly executed. I felt like I was at a low-tier undergraduate graduation. Sorry guys, I'm sure you helped the class in other ways, but felt that needed to be said.
What did the class reps do?
I thought ours (class of '08) did a great job fwiw :-)
I'm glad you feel better for saying it, 1:25pm. I'm sure your unprompted honesty will serve you well in life. . .
unprompted?
isn't this an open thread about graduation?
Congratulations, graduates! Having graduated exactly one year ago, I was thinking about you guys over the weekend and remembering that excited/anxious for Bar/Bri feeling. I hope the weather was nice!
And now, I have a random question. Does anybody out there have information about getting diploma frames for our Boalt JDs? Those of you guys who have yours already might notice that they are 8.5 x 15, rather than the standard 8.5 x 11, but the frames that you can buy from Berkeley's online resources are all for 8.5 x 11 diplomas . . . I called Ned's and the Boalt Bookstore but nobody has had an answer so far. Any Boalties out there know how to do it? Thank you!
Good luck, Graduates!!!
Megan, you can get a custom frame done by any framing store. It's a little pricey, but it allows you to choose your on mattes and colors/textures you like best around the document (a hint of gold somewhere in the borders really sets off the seal beautifully). Mine turned out looking much nicer than the standard frames sold by the bookstore. I think I paid about $110 bucks for the materials and labor.
The Cal Bookstore sells special Boalt frames, and you can order it online.
Here's the link to the special Boalt frame:
http://www.bkstr.com/ProductDisplay/10001-10030-10433-10495353-1?demoKey=d
But it says it is for 8.5 x 11. Can't comment on 12:31's 8.5 x 15 comment.
Thanks, 1:20, McWho and 1:51! 1:51, that is totally my problem. There are "Boalt Hall" frames available on the website, but they're the wrong size for the actual JD. (I don't even know why I am surprised about this situation, given my experience already at Boalt!) Ned's Bookstore told me that the Boalt Bookstore specifically sells longer frames for the diploma, but the Boalt Bookstore said on the phone today that they don't. I will probably go with 1:20's advice to just get a custom frame, but I kind of wanted the official Berkeley one with the seal and "Boalt Hall" across the bottom. Oh well. If anyone else has navigated the fun world of framing your JD - let me know!! Thanks for the input guys. Appreciated.
The issue has been brought up in comments (here and here. 1:20 offers the best advice. I'd strongly recommend a dark blue matte over a gold matte.
Ok, that is pretty much the perfect way to leave UCB...screaming at the ineptitude.
So WTF do I do with the one I have already bought from the cal bookstore? Throw it through their front window?
McWho: Return them to the Cal Store, go to the Boalt Bookstore and ask them what the hell is going on. Then please let me know what they say! :) From Armen's references (thanks, Armen), at least one person purchased an 11 x 14 frame that fit the JD, so maybe it really exists . . . ?
one to grow on: no one should have a framed diploma on the wall.
congrats, graduates! best of luck on the bar exam!
I strongly agree with 4:56.
I really enjoyed the speech by our class reps. I thought it did a good job capturing the energy and collegiality of our class. a stuffy and overly formal speech wouldn't have felt right to me.
so where the hell are you supposed to put your diploma? on the floor? in a book? in the trash? sorry, i worked too hard for that piece of paper to not frame it and put it up for all to see!
I was thoroughly embarrassed by the class rep speeches. My aunt, who is one of those people who can't say a bad thing about anyone, was absolutely shocked. It was more appropriate to a football game than a graduation. Kim -- how many times are you going to raise the roof? You personally offended me more than the protesters, and that is saying a lot. A speech can be both meaningful, inspiring, AND funny, without being stuffy and formal as one of you put it. It was nothing short of shameful that those put people were allowed to get up and pretend to represent out class.
Chemerinsky was amazing -- you people are nuts. And in case none of you caught it, Liu, whose speech pure fluff, made a dig at Yoo at well. As evidenced by many of the profs who were wearing the orange ribbons, the vast majority of people at Boalt don't want Yoo there and don't consider him "part" of our school at all. He is a canker sore that won't go away. Period.
personally offended? how exactly did that class rep speech (or raising the roof) offend your personal principles? I can understand if you say you didn't like it or expected something different, but it certainly wasn't offensive. you're a jd now, learn how to intend the meaning of the words you choose.
Nicely done Laura
And for what its worth, Kim, I enjoyed your enthusiasm, and my mom was delighted by you.
Offensive was exactly the word I meant. And I didn't use the word "morally" offended (to use your rhetoric, as a JD, you might now have learned to read text more carefully). You may want to look up "offend" in the dictionary, my dear: offend -- to cause displeasure; irritate, annoy. I would say it's the perfect word for how I felt. One who has been bestowed the honor of giving a graduation speech at one of the finest schools in the country should spend more than 3 minutes preparing it. I am just grateful that I don't have to sit in Barbri with her so as not to be constantly reminded of those ridiculous 10 minutes.
9:13, 12:08, whoever you are. You set a new low for class, and embarrass the rest of us Boalties. It's one thing to not be happy about the class rep speech, but you are taking it to a personal level. Do the rest of us a favor and grow up, so we don't have to be exposed to your nonsense.
That is all.
Graduation is a great opportunity to notice that you really don't know as many people in your grad class as you had previously thought.
12:08, I hope you're one of them...
And is nobody going to comment on the ridiculousness of the original post?
"Carbolic"- did you even donate enough to cover the cost of those items? Isn't it a bit silly to be so disgusted with the school for not spending a lot of money to reward people for donating? Doesn't that kill the point of the school's fundraising efforts?! How about this- go buy yourself dinner and call that a simultaneous "donation" and your "reward" because you are such a good person.
For those of us who weren't there, what on earth was said by the class reps that could be so terrible?
Haha -- 12:08 here. And we actually know each other quite well TJ.
Can anyone honestly say that our class representatives' speeches were out of place from, say, a calypso Pomp and Circumstance, a collaborative rainstorm, or our Dean's total ad hoc, improvised speeches? Not to mention his absurd arm sling so that we wouldn't accidentally try to, you know, shake his hand.
I love this place, and I loved the whole WTF vibe of the ceremony. Woo woo to you, 12:08.
Christ! All 12:08 did was express his/her view and you guys all rail on him/her. A nice bunch of people you are. I guess everyone is allowed to express their view unless you disagree with it. Frankly, I was pretty disappointed with K's speech as well, though I wasn't expecting much. It was pretty shallow, but then from these postings I can see that it was a pretty good reflection of the people who post on this blog. Seems to me that the Valedictorian, or something who has actually accomplished something related to the law, not just someone who won an election first year (and who probably ran uncontested at that), should be the one designated to speak at graduation. All I know is I won't be reading these blogs anymore -- it's sad how many of you find it so easy to be so unkind to one another.
I agree that the class speeches were out of place, even moreso than other "WTF" parts. Not all of us attended Boalt w/ a "WTF" attitude, so actually wanted to have a more formal moment presented by our class reps in celebration of the day. But, it's over now.
Some of you guys, 12:08 and the supporters, are absolutely f***ing ridiculous. I can't believe we went to the same school. It is one thing to complain about a speech, but putting the class rep's name in the post and saying you're glad not to have to sit in barbri with her is just about the shittiest thing I can imagine. God I'm so glad to be out of there.
12:08 - as one of my friends, I want you to know that I don't appreciate anonymous bashing of my (our?) other friends. I'm sorry you didn't appreciate her speech, but there's really no good that can come from your comments.
Instead, please be more courteous in the future. Thanks.
8:13 -
One of the silliest things people can do is to claim that people are intolerant of other people's views because they disagree with those views are stated.
It's foolish to make it that personal. Give your disapproval. Dress it up with a funny analogy involving an elephant and a can of tuna fish. Hell, make fun of some underutilized stereotype (did you know all Swedes are crybabies?). But there's no need to drop names, and if you do, at least provide some constructive criticism. Just because you can hurt people's feelings doesn't mean you should.
And thanks for no longer reading this blog! I wish half the idiots on here would follow your valiant lead.
*they disagree with the WAY those views are stated.
8:13am, your last sentence is really out of place considering your own comments and the last sentence of the anonymous person you chose to defend.
Both you and 12:08, assuming you're different people, did more than just respond to other posters on this blog. You took more petty cheap shots at the speakers. You call everyone shallow in the same post where you throw in a little quip about an uncontested election? You say you're sad that people can be unkind in the same post where you say you "weren't expecting much"? Who the hell are you? It's like bad satire that doesn't go far enough to be funny.
12:08, I can only imagine the serious message of the other speeches was lost on you. Somehow I doubt you'll be expressing your beliefs and values in anything but an anonymous environment. The "be happy" message is probably lost, though I'm sure the occasional smug sense of accomplishment will be enough to get you through the days. On the bright side, now that we've graduated you can stop hiding your dislike for your peers, and vice versa.
*On a side note, and not to mask my contempt for a few of the posters above, I'm watching Colbert talk about Yoo right now, and it is amazing. "Oh so now it's my fault kittens in a sack can't swim?"
12:08 and company, are you seriously spending your post-graduation days whining about a speech given by your classmates which is already said and done?
What I appreciated most about the ceremony was how great it felt to graduate with a class full of people who I have felt great love and respect for. Thanks for making me think a little bit less of our class - I sincerely hope we don't run into each other.
God I am so effing sick of people acting like just because you have the right to complain about someone or something that you should actually do so. Sometimes it just makes you an asshole. For example, if some group of old people is walking down the sidewalk at a snail's pace and blocking the entire thing, I could lose my cool and flip out at them and tell them to move the hell over. But I don't because that would make me an asshole. I'm guessing you wouldn't either, 8:13. Stop acting like it is perfectly acceptable to rudely complain when it's actually not. There are things we all have the "right" to do but refrain from doing because it's a douche thing to do. I would put calling out a classmate's speech online in that category.
12:08, since you think it's okay to speak so freely on a public blog, I'll speak freely too: I'm far more embarrassed by the pettiness and classlessness exhibited in your remarks than I am about anything that happened at graduation. (And for the record, I really liked the speech by our class reps.)
Seriously? This is what Boalt produces these days? I'm always amazed by the sudden courage to speak one's mind that comes with hiding behind the veil of anonymity. Ok, everyone's made their points. Move on. Petty swiping on a thread about graduation is incredibly unbecoming.
Regardless of your position on this, I'm pretty sure the only speakers who didn't get a standing ovation were the 3L class reps.
Seriously 12:18? I mean, really? You felt like pointing that out? Please, PLEASE tell me you were watching from the stands.
McWho -- not to belabor the point, but your characterization of Chem's speak is totally inaccurate. He never called Yoo evil; in fact, he made a specific point to note that he is NOT evil. Rather, he called his actions evil. Perhaps that is just semantics, but I think it makes a difference. My mom loved his speech so much that she asked for a copy. (I know, I know -- she's a big dork but I love her.) He stated, "I do not believe that those who wrote those memos were evil people, but they justified evil actions and evil resulted." His point was that as lawyers, we have incredible power to do good and to do evil, and that the structure of the system can lead good people to do bad things. Given that Yoo was on all of our minds after those protest (which, I agree, was ridiculous -- if anything, they should go after the new admits and try to convince them not to take his classes or something, but not us when we are trying to enjoy a moment for which we have worked very hard), I think the statement was very appropriate.
Armen-
Yes - this is exactly what Boalt produces these days.
5/20 6:00 PM sums it all up for me.
Add to the WTF: orange jumpsuits and a French woman speaking somewhat incoherently about a golden rock.
Things that embarrassed me at graduation:
1. Dean Edley - obviously did not prepare at all for the ceremony. I spent three years of my life working for this, and so did every other JD candidate. You could at least acknowledge that effort with some effort of your own.
2. Our class reps' "speech" - had no content. If you have nothing more to say than "woo," why not just sit down and clap?
3. Combining the two previous points, the general "wtf" attitude of the entire ceremony. I am not impressed. It was cool in high school, and maybe even college. We are now adults. Life is not a game. People live or die because of our action or inaction. I'm not saying we shouldn't have fun and let loose when appropriate, but there is a time and place for it. It's not only embarrassing, but I am genuinely frightened for our future precisely because people with access to power have this attitude.
To the "cool kids" on this thread who seem to worship that attitude: I do not take you seriously, because you do not take yourselves seriously. I hope you change sooner rather than later, because you're wasting your lives.
Things that I liked at graduation:
1. Chemerinsky - he did not mince words with the obviously immoral behavior of John Yoo, but emphasized that we are all vulnerable to the traps that Yoo was caught in.
2. Liu - at least it was sincere, and he said "no more humble Asian shit."
Things that embarrass me about this thread:
1. I'm commenting on it.
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