Attorney General Racine Encourages Incoming Howard Law Students to Honor School’s Heritage of Public Service
 
Washington - On Friday, August 14, Attorney General Karl A. Racine congratulated the Howard University Law School Juris Doctor Class of 2018 and the Master of Laws Class of 2016 at their annual pinning ceremony, inducting the new law-school students into the legal profession.  In his remarks, Attorney General Racine called on students to represent their future clients with zeal, integrity, and empathy.
 
He also applauded Howard Law School Dean Danielle R. Holley-Walker’s accomplishments as she completes her first year in the job, having increased the size of the first-year entering class from 125 students to 150 -- an impressive 20 percent gain, despite a nationwide slowdown in law-school enrollments.
 
Howard Law, as Attorney General Racine noted, is known for its historic contributions to the cause of civil rights and social justice. Its graduates include several of the most distinguished African Americans in the field of law, among them Charlotte Ray, the first African-American woman lawyer, who graduated in 1872; Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, who graduated in 1933; Damon Keith, a Senior Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, who graduated in 1949; and Emmet Sullivan, U.S. District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who graduated in 1971, and whom Racine cited as a personal inspiration in his January 2015 inaugural address.
 
Mr. Racine also thanked Howard Law for its ongoing contributions to his own office, which has employed several notable Howard alumni They include former Corporation Counsel (now Attorney General) Frederick D. Cooke, Jr.; and Tamar Meekins, the District’s current Deputy Attorney General for Public Safety, who served previously as a professor at the school.
 
Attorney General Racine closed his remarks by administering the Professionalism Oath.