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In his orientation welcome, Associate Dean Don Rebstock talks about the wealth of experience among our new students. Their extraordinary achievements, from climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to serving in the armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, are sure to enrich the Law School community this year and for years to come:

Good morning and welcome! It is so great to look out and see you all come together here after the mounds of paper, and the phone calls and e-mails that we’ve been dealing with for the past eleven months. It’s also been fun for our staff to meet with many of you during these past few days as we've fondly recalled initial meetings with you here and on the road when you were applying. Friendships are already forming among you and the characteristic Northwestern Law camaraderie is clearly evident.

My purpose is to tell you about who you are and where you come from and I now have a 25 minute window to describe many of your accomplishments and even some of your more creative quirks. In order to do that, I’ve done extensive research on all of you. I’ve combed through every word in your files, and I imagine that some of you may be starting to feel a bit nervous right now as you wonder what I may tell everyone about you. And note that, while there is no way I can say something about each and every one of you, please rest assured that you all stood out among the thousands who applied and we are thrilled that you are here. Ultimately, my hope is that you will feel collectively proud, yet individually humble, and that you will begin to ponder the tremendous potential seated within this room today. The bottom line is that you are a very impressive group. So let’s get going.

You're a group that began with about 30,000 people who requested our application, more than 3500 who interviewed, and nearly 5,000 who applied for your spaces today. As applications have risen to unprecedented levels here these past few years, you should feel especially proud.

You represent 113 colleges and universities. 46% of you majored in History & the Social Sciences; 20% in the Arts & Humanities; 19% in Business & Economics, and 15% in Engineering & the Applied Sciences.

In addition to the impressive academic statistics that Dean Van Zandt shared, at least 15 of you were National Merit Scholars; one of you was a Fulbright Scholar and another of you was a Truman Scholar.

Dean Van Zandt already shared many of the key demographic statistics for your class. Additionally, according to the surveys you returned this summer, 13 percent of you are married, and the average age of your class is 25.55.

Now for some of your individual accomplishments:

- Our international law concentration and International Team Projects will be popular for many of you, given the impressive range of international experiences represented in your class. In fact, from the surveys you returned this summer, we learned that nearly half of you have spent at least three months abroad on academic study or a work assignment.

- Seated among you are a former Transfer Pricing Consultant for PriceWaterhouse Coopers in Seoul, a former Communications Consultant for UNICEF in Beijing, a former operations manager for Chemonics International of Kabul, Afghanistan, a former senior clerk for the District Court of Zurich, a former Associate Attorney at Allerde & Brea in Buenos Aires, and a former diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Korea.

- Your classmates also include a Peace Corp volunteer to Mongolia and others who have completed missions to Cambodia, Thailand, Australia, Kenya, and Uzbekistan.

- One of you has worked in 13 countries; one of you has traveled to every continent except Antarctica while another of you spent the past two years in Antarctica at the South Pole, working for Raytheon Polar Services; one of you has dog sledded in the Yukon; one of you climbed one of the great pyramids and Mt. Kilimanjaro and crossed the Taklamakan desert in China on camel while another of you raced in the 2004 International African Camel Derby; one of you hiked the Incan Trail; one of you trekked for 7 days in the Amazon Jungle; and still another of you backpacked around the world in 1998 and 99.

Given your many artistic talents, Wigmore Follies, our annual variety show, will surely be entertaining these next three years.

- Seated among you is a former production coordinator for Paramount Pictures and Disney who won a $100,000 dollar prize to direct his own award winning screenplay this past summer in Hollywood; one of your classmates produced a feature length film about the adventures of inner-city teens which aired on PBS; and another composed and produced commercial tracks for the PBS television series, called “In the Mix.”

- We could assemble some impressive musical ensembles among you and our a capella choir, called Habeas Chorus, looks to have a bright future, given that your classmates include several former college a capella ensemble founders, leaders, and soloists. Also out there are a former piano student at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto; another who studied viola and harp in Italy through the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and a slew of other instrumentalists who performed with college orchestras, bands, and jazz ensembles.

- You also have a former music theory teacher from Rutgers who taught music in Ecuador and who also co-founded a music school in Bolivia for underprivileged children, and another classmate who has produced 3 albums on an independent label.

- Also among you are some talented dancers, including a former instructor and dancer for the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Rio de Janeiro and another who performed at the Grand Old Opera House in Texas during her time as a member of the City Ballet of Houston.

Your class includes numerous former varsity college athletes and, every year, the complete list of sporting accomplishments seems to gets even more impressive. For example, you could assemble a competitive cross-country team, given that your classmates have completed 27 marathons and 5 half-marathons, including one of your classmates who finished the Twin Cities Marathon while running with a cracked Tibia! And, depending on how you look at it, you will either be well protected or you’d better not pick a fight with anyone in your class since it includes 5 students who hold black belts in various martial arts, including one who can split a board with his foot. You also have a former co-captain of Princeton’s varsity wrestling team, the chair of the East Asia University Body Builder’s Association, and the Massachusetts state runner-up and 2001 Boston-area darts champion. And listen to this, seated out there is someone who holds 3 patents for designing and manufacturing the world’s smallest pistol. It is 20 percent smaller than any other pistol, roughly the size of a credit card, measuring only three and a quarter inches wide, two and three-eighths inches high, one inch thick, and weighing a mere 12 ounces.

You could also put together what would have to be the best basketball team of any law school out there. Seated among you are a former academic all-American basketball player from the University of Chicago, the captain of Princeton’s varsity women’s basketball team, a former professional basketball player in Europe who played for teams in Poland and Turkey and who was named College Insider magazine’s mid-major division I player of the year, and a 2-time NCAA division I all-American and former NBA basketball player who played for the New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks, and Golden State Warriors.

You’ve got the makings of an impressive equestrian team since your class includes someone who was a finalist for the U.S. Young Riders Equestrian Team and another who was a horse trainer at Clevedon Horse Park in New Zealand under Olympic rider, John Cottle.

How about fielding a women’s rugby or field hockey team since you’ve got a wing from Stanford’s 1999 National Championship women’s rugby team and a member of Amherst’s NCAA finalist women’s varsity field hockey team.

And you’re all set with water sports since your class includes a former sailing instructor in Wiscasset, Maine, and the 1998 and 99 Men’s double junior national rowing champion who is also a former member of the U.S. junior world’s rowing team.

To promote your teams, you can call on the former Account Executive among you who pitched the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the 2003 Women’s Tennis Association championships.

For those of you who will be spectators, you’ll be able to watch in style and comfort due to the efforts of two of your classmates – one who was a food vendor for the Chicago White Sox and another who was a suite attendant at Atlanta’s Turner field.

If you want some nationally televised coverage, just seek out your classmate out there who was a production assistant at ESPN.

And finally, come contract time, you will be well-represented by your classmate who was a Union Representative for the NBA Players Association.

Our 3-time national champion National Trial Team and our trial advocacy programs should remain strong, given the amount of collegiate debate and mock trial experience among you. Additionally, you have a former speech and debate coach at the University of Alabama, and someone who was an American Forensics Association Individual Events National champion.

It’s likely that all of you will have jobs when graduation rolls around since one of your classmates is the former Director of Career Services at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart School of Business.

Our Small Business Opportunity Center should be popular with your class, given the impressive list of successful entrepreneurs among you. One of you founded a company that trained and sold hunter jumper horses; one of you opened and managed your own smoothie bar, called Wild Splash; one of you founded and managed your own recording studio and record label; one of you founded and led a software development and business outsourcing firm that grew to more than $2 million dollars in revenues; and one of you has founded a total of 5 new businesses. In doing so, you successfully acquired more than $15 million dollars in venture funding and one of them became one of the top 5 venture financed on-line mortgage firms in the nation.

There are some in your class who may be interested in communication and the law, given your journalistic backgrounds. Seated out there is a former reporter for the Cape Town South Africa Newspaper, a reporter for Reuters in Mexico City, a contributing writer for MTV in Korea, a correspondent for Reuters in the Netherlands and Warsaw who was also a Newsaide for the Washington Post in the Netherlands, and a former associate producer and reporter for CNN who covered singer and songwriter, Sheryl Crowe’s lawsuit against an alleged stalker; you also attended the Martha Stewart trial, and once greeted and prepared Benjamin Netanyahu for an on-air interview.

Finally, we salute the five of you who have valiantly served in our nation’s Armed forces during these difficult times, including a Sergeant in the 17th Aviation Brigade in Korea, a 1st Lieutenant in the Marines, a staff sergeant who served in Afghanistan on the Pakistan border, a naval aviator who received a global war on terrorism service medal, and an army captain who oversaw maintenance to Saddam Hussein’s former palace. We are all deeply indebted to each of you for your service and courage.

It is clear that you are achievers. You wrote with sometimes modest, sometimes not so modest, often serious but an occasional humorous flair.

Two of you have top secret clearance; one of you, at the time of your application, was working on the world’s largest crossword puzzle; one of you won our laptop raffle at our admitted students day; one of you once swam with piranhas in the Amazon River while another of you climbed Mt. Popocatepetl in Mexico just 4 months before that volcano erupted; one of you got married in Moscow’s Wedding Palace Number 4; one of you is a trained glassblower; one of you is a former national poultry judge; one of you once greeted and shook hands with President Bush while another of you attended a party in 2001 thrown by Fidel Castro while another of you witnessed Tony Blair present his case for war in Iraq at the House of Commons while another of you authored and produced radio scripts for Bill Clinton and John Kerry and co-drafted and presented the approved 37 page mission statement for the 2004 Democratic National Convention while still another of you is a direct descendant of King Edward the first of England and one of the witches who was hung in Salem. One of you graduated from college and was admitted to a PhD program at age 18 and we have high expectations from the one of you whose application included a recommendation letter that was 5 pages, single-spaced; one of you, while in your role as a promotional model for Encore, Inc., once dressed up as Tony the Tiger and, finally, we chuckled at the description one of you gave on your resume to describe your work at C&D Construction as “I hauled a lot of dirt.”

And seriously, from the five of you who have taught in inner city schools through Teach for America to the one of you who co-founded an organization that helped raise funds for a Romanian teenager to receive a bone marrow transplant to the one of you who volunteered to record books for the visually impaired to the one of you who was a personal assistant to a man with cerebral palsy to the one of you who volunteered at a Tennessee prison for women where you helped promote literacy by teaching imprisoned mothers to read and record books for their children, we've seen plenty of evidence of the very personal, sincere, and caring qualities of your class.

We're glad you're here. From all of us in admissions, best wishes to you, and have a great experience here at Northwestern Law.

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