For the first time in two years, Willamette Law graduates will walk across the stage to receive their diplomas.
The school will welcome The Honorable Darleen Ortega as the speaker for its 136th Commencement held at 11:25 a.m., Sunday, May 15, on the Quad. The ceremony will also honor two members of the law community as it announces Assistant Professor Kelly Gamble as the Law Faculty Member of the Year and graduates Megann Elizabeth Meier and Derek Olson as the Class of 2022 co-valedictorians.
Oregon Court of Appeals Judge Darleen Ortega will give the commencement address, focusing on the role of belonging in the law. Judge Ortega is the first woman of color and the only Latina to serve as an appellate judge in Oregon.
Before becoming a judge, she practiced law for 14 years, focusing on all types of civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels. In her time on the bench, she has distinguished herself as a court leader on issues of juvenile dependency and on efforts to address the structural inequities that affect operation of the legal system.
Judge Ortega teaches Access to Justice at the College of Law. She is also a frequent speaker on topics related to equity, privilege, combatting structural and internalized racism and oppression, and learning to recognize and value the perspectives of people at the margins. She spends hours with law students and new lawyers, especially those from marginalized communities, helping them...
A former security officer at Reno’s Peppermill Casino claims its facial recognition technology routinely misidentified customers, sometimes producing as many as 12 false matches with 100% confidenc...