Santa Clara Law Oral History Project
Santa Clara Law’s Oral History Project is designed to collect memories from our alumni, deans and professors. Current alumni videos are from the classes of 1952 , 1960 , 1965 , 1970 , 1975 , 1980 , 1990 , 1995 , 2000 and 2005 . Videos of deans and professors include Gerald Uelmen , and Mary Emery and Bob Peterson .
“For me, it (9/11) reminded me of why I wanted to be a lawyer, to promote ideals of freedom and then also to wear this uniform and to become a JAG attorney.”
Dan Dow - Class of 2000
“That's really what I wanted to be able to come to law school for, was to be able to litigate, be in court, and do something kind of exciting.”
“Professor Ellen Kreitzberg encouraged everybody to think about the opposite point of view on a particular case...not just to think the way you are used to thinking about an issue.”
“Whenever they ask where I went to law school and I say Santa Clara, they're like, that's a great school.”
“There's people that are prominent that have graduated from Santa Clara over the last 100 years so I think that's a big part of the legacy as we go forward to the future.”
“I don't know of any other schools that have the variety of intellectual property classes that I was able to take.”
Andre Gibbs - Class of 2000
“I came here as an Intellectual Property student so a lot of the professors I had were adjunct professors who worked in the valley.”
“As an alum I'm proud that Santa Clara is one of the most diverse law schools in the country.”
“That was really nice, just to have a social time with the professors and know that they’re interested in you as a person and not just a face in a classroom.”
“I really enjoyed studying abroad in Geneva and Strasbourg, and particularly with (Professor) Jiri Toman.”
“We had someone beatboxing on the side, and I was Justice Scalia and I was dressed in a robe and I rapped Justice Scalia style.”
“Jiri Toman is just a paragon of knowledge when it comes to international law…Professor Beth Van Schaack is a huge role model for me.”
“I would not have had the opportunity to go out to the Northern Mariana Islands and clerk for the Supreme Court without having been educated here at Santa Clara.”
“There’s a real camaraderie in the Fresno County legal community among the best legal minds, and it’s a pleasure to practice there with so many role models from Santa Clara.”
“Santa Clara really instilled in me the idea of social justice...”
