Athens, Ga. – Georgia Supreme Court Presiding Justice Carol W. Hunstein will deliver the keynote address at the University of Georgia School of Law’s commencement Saturday, May 19. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on the quadrangle in front of the law school on UGA’s North Campus. In the event of rain, the ceremony will be moved to Stegeman Coliseum.
Hunstein’s 1984 election to the Superior Court of DeKalb County made her the first woman ever to sit on the superior court bench in that county and one of the few female superior court judges in the state at the time. In 1992, she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Georgia by former Gov. Zell Miller, making her the second woman in history to serve as a permanent member of that court.
Prior to serving on the bench, Hunstein was in private practice and has been a member of the State Bar of Georgia since 1976. She received her law degree in 1976 from Stetson University College of Law after earning her bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University and her associate’s degree from Miami-Dade Junior College. In 1999, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession presented Hunstein with the Margaret Brent Award for her achievements. In January 2006, she received the Commitment to Equality Award from the State Bar’s Commission on Women and Minorities in the Profession.
At this year’s commencement, approximately 235 students will receive their juris doctor for successfully completing three years of legal study. Additionally, 15 master of laws candidates, who have completed one year of graduate legal study, will be recognized.
Graduating Class of 2007 President Preston J. Meche will provide the official welcome, and Vice-President Tedra C. Hobson will introduce Hunstein. Meche and Enjolique D. Aytch, co-chair of the Legacy Gift Committee, will present the 2007 class gift to Law School Association President Eleanor Banister, who will welcome the new graduates to the alumni association.
Other commencement speakers will include Georgia Law Dean Rebecca H. White and Associate Dean Gabriel M. Wilner. The senior class has chosen Dan T. Coenen, Hosch Professor and University Professor, and C. Ronald Ellington, the holder of the Cleveland Distinguished Chair of Legal Ethics and Professionalism and Meigs Professor, to serve as honorary marshals and read the names of the graduates.
Three additional members of the platform party will be UGA Provost Arnett C. Mace Jr., law school Registrar Marc A. Galvin and Athens-Clarke County Sheriff Ira Edwards Jr., who will lead the graduation procession as is tradition.
Georgia Law is currently ranked as one of the top four public law schools in the Southeast and as one of the top 15 public law schools in the nation.
