2022 Commencement Recap Article - Bottom Content

Congresswoman Susan Ellis Wild, JD ’82, delivered the keynote address. She emphasized the importance of resilience and courage. 

Congresswoman Wild (D-PA), the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's seventh Congressional District, was elected to Congress for the first time in November 2018, was a member of the largest class of freshman women (36) to enter the U.S. House of Representatives, and is the first woman to go to Congress from her district in Pennsylvania. An advocate for expanding access to mental health care and suicide prevention initiatives, she has co-sponsored several significant bills, including the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which President Biden recently signed into law. 

Ms. Wild told the story of her job search immediately following law school. After losing a position with the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, she began to question her career choice. Eventually she made it to Pennsylvania and entered a small legal community where she became the managing partner and elected president of the local bar association. 

The start of her political career was in 2013 when she lost a race for county commissioner. Looking back on the decision she said that was “the best damn thing [she] could have done.” Her first loss helped her gain a network and name recognition that led to her success in 2018. Congresswoman Wild remarked that “had [she] not been resilient, [she] wouldn’t be standing before you today.” 

Congresswoman Wild reminded the class of 2022 that they “are now responsible for the path the law takes. The profession [they] are about to embark upon is an honorable one. And it may not seem like it yet, but [they] will wield tremendous power.” 

Dean Abramowicz then distributed diplomas to every member of the graduating class. The names of 570 JD graduates were called. The names of the 144 LLM graduates were then displayed, followed by the 16 MSL graduates.