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  Cooley Law School Holds Spring Commencement for Lansing Campus

  LANSING, Mich. – Cooley Law School’s spring commencement ceremony on April 25 not only honored the 46 graduates who earned their juris doctor degree, but also celebrated 50 years since the law school’s first class earned their degrees. The ceremony, held at the MSU Wharton Center Pasant Theatre in East Lansing, featured remarks from Cooley graduates who celebrated their achievements 50 years apart. Chosen by his peers, 2026 graduate Nicholas Prowse gave the class farewell remarks, while Distinguished Professor Emeritus Jeff Swartz, a former Miami-Dade County, Fla., judge who graduated from Cooley in 1976, delivered the keynote speech. “The easy path has always been to quit or to cut corners or to do the bare minimum to avoid scrutiny. But that is not what we came to law school for, and that is not who any of us who are about to receive our degrees are. Not anymore,” Prowse told his fellow graduates. “If there are two things I’d like to leave everyone with, it’s 1: We have all already proven that we can do incredibly difficult things. Let’s not forget that. It matters most, and it becomes tempting to take the easier path. And 2: let us not forget who was with us along the way.” Prowse thanked his fellow students, friends and family of the graduates, and Cooley professors and faculty. He added, “Remember the professors who invested in us when we inevitably have the opportunity to invest in somebody else. We have all seen first-hand the impact that can have. Let us pay it forward.” During the ceremony, Cooley Law School President and Dean James McGrath presented five members of the 1976 graduating class with commemorative medallions, dubbing them “Golden Graduates.” Those Golden Graduates included: Swartz, Larry Nolan, Jared Silberman, William Ferrigan, and James Bonfiglio. Swartz spoke about Cooley’s impact on his extensive and successful career in law, while connecting his experience back to this year’s graduating class, finding one’s calling, and modern legal integrity. “To be a lawyer right now is to constantly ask yourself, how do I make sure I’m doing the right thing? Am I standing on the right side of history? There is a simple answer: The wrong side of history will always tell you to be afraid. The right side of history will always expect you to be brave,” said Swartz. “I implore you to be brave – as lawyers and as defenders of the constitution. I urge you to go out into this world with courage. The people of this country expect you to be true to the legacy of the very mission, duty, and calling you accept today.” Since opening its doors in 1972 under the leadership of then Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Brennan, Cooley Law School has remained committed to providing a rigorous and hands-on legal education that is inclusive and collaborative, preparing students who are confident and future-ready for a career in law. President and Dean McGrath thanked staff and students, as well as those who supported them throughout the school year. He noted that April 25 was also World Healing Day, which was established by the Global Consciousness Project to shed light on the possible effects of global consciousness during watershed moments worldwide. In his remarks, McGrath explained how this connection relates to law students and the legal profession. “People don’t come to lawyers when things are going well, generally,” said McGrath. “They come when something is broken, whether it’s a contract, or a family, a business, a trust, sometimes a life. They come frightened, sometimes angry, and sometimes already having lost something they cannot get back. And they sit across from you and they trust you with some broken thing, and they ask you to help. The law gives you tools for that. You have procedures, arguments, negotiations, drafting, and advocacy. These can be instruments of repair, of healing. But the tools only work if the person holding them understands that the goal is not always just to win, it’s to resolve. To heal.” The ceremony also honored the late Polly Brennan, who was instrumental in Cooley Law School’s founding with her husband, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas E. Brennan. In Cooley’s early years, Polly registered students herself, and would set up tables and chairs for class before the school had a permanent home. She was presented with an honorary degree in 2022. A tribute and moment of silence was presented by Lawrence Nolan, a 1976 Cooley “Golden Graduate” and personal friend to the Brennans. The full Cooley Law School Lansing campus graduation is available to watch here.

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  Derek Matthews gives next generation of Cooley Law School students a start in legal profession in Tampa

  Derek Matthews (Vinson Class, 2017) is no stranger to giving back to Cooley Law School in the Tampa Bay region. Outside of legal practice, Matthews sponsors the annual Cooley Alumni Golf Outing in Tampa and participates in alumni events and mentoring programs to build relationships with faculty and fellow graduates.

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  Reda Taleb’s Life’s Work: Turning Pain into Purpose — and Giving It Back to Dearborn

  When Reda Taleb (McLean Class, 2015) talks about “giving back,” she isn’t just reciting a slogan — she’s living by example. The daughter of immigrants from Bint Jbeil, Lebanon, Taleb’s parents, along with her six older siblings, laid roots in Dearborn’s south end, an area known for its pollution-emitting factory smoke stacks and community of Arab Americans seeking the “American Dream.”

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