KU Law News
KU Law News
Sept. 23, 2008
Getting to know the KU Law Class of 2011
Poets, champion debaters, rugby players, volunteers, teachers, recent immigrants and members of the military are among the students in the KU Law Class of 2011.
One hundred thirteen anxious first-year students arrived at Green Hall on a warm day in late August, joining 49 classmates who started their studies in May. Dean Gail Agrawal welcomed them with a message of camaraderie.
“Like generations of lawyers before you and generations who will follow you, you will always remember this day – because today you embark on what will be one of the most interesting and challenging years of your professional life,” she said. “Give yourself the gift of savoring it.”
In total, the incoming class numbers 162 students from 19 states and eight foreign countries – roughly 41 percent women, 59 percent men. Twenty percent are ethnic minorities. Find even more statistics about the class in the 2008-2009 profile.
What these numbers don’t fully reveal, though, is the incredible diversity of viewpoints and life experiences those students bring to the law school.
We conducted an informal survey of the incoming class and mined their applications to add some personality to the raw data. Nearly two-thirds of the students responded to the online poll.
Not surprisingly, the class members are a multitalented and accomplished bunch. They draw, sing and make music – and teach others to do the same. They write and publish poetry. They report the news. They lift weights and play all manner of sports. One even studied Japanese sword and staff fighting for four years under the tutelage of a Taoist sensei.
They juggle, perform magic, dance in powwows, chase storms and impersonate Yoda, Austin Powers and Elmo. One student touts the ability to feel rejuvenated after a 15-minute power nap, a skill that undoubtedly will serve him well during law school.
Forty-seven percent of the students surveyed own pets – mostly dogs and cats but also a bunny, a turtle and a rat.
Class members claim proficiency in 15 languages, including Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, French, Arabic, Gujurati, Swedish, Serbian, Japanese and Urdu. One student can mimic the accents of many of those languages, including Dean Agrawal’s own, identified as “Deep South.”
More than a quarter of the students surveyed had studied abroad in places such as Italy, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Nigeria, China, India, Mexico, Argentina and Ghana.
They most admire their parents or another family member. Other heroes cited include Nelson Mandela, Andre Agassi, Stanley Kubrick, Indira Gandhi, Tiger Woods, Jesus Christ and Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbs.
Seventy-five percent of those surveyed say they volunteer. They build houses for Habitat for Humanity and wheelchair ramps for disabled individuals. They ring bells for the Salvation Army and deliver Meals on Wheels. They serve with Genocide Watch and the International Justice Mission. They also serve in the military and AmeriCorps.
They enjoy an occasional book, movie or TV series about lawyers. Topping their list of favorite films are “A Few Good Men,” “Michael Clayton” and “Legally Blonde.” On television, the students like “Law & Order,” “The Practice” and “Boston Legal.” Their book list includes “A Time to Kill,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “A Civil Action.”
Dean Agrawal would approve of some of the characters in these works. But she suggested in her opening address that the students not waste their time or money for the next three years on fictionalized accounts of unethical lawyers.
“Commit yourself to the study of a learned art in the public interest and to upholding the proud traditions of the lawyers who have gone before you – of Jefferson and Lincoln, of Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sandra Day O’Connor, and of countless unknown lawyers who have conducted themselves, always, with great integrity and moral courage as they go about the everyday business of solving their clients’ problems and serving their communities,” Agrawal said. “We’ll all be the better for it.”