Sua Sponte

Mutual appreciation

The Class of 2020 completed their studies at Duke Law remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown, receiving kudos from faculty and administrators for demonstrating resilience, focus, and good cheer under trying circumstances. On the eve of their graduation, more than 100 members of the class sent the following message of appreciation to the faculty, indicating the feeling was mutual.

To the Incredible Faculty of Duke Law,

We, the Class of 2020, want to extend our formal gratitude to all of you for transforming your roles as educators these last few months in ways that went far beyond our expectations. In these especially challenging times, you worked tirelessly to transfer the academic excellence and quality for which many of us chose to attend Duke Law into our online classrooms.

You maintained your commitment to our legal education even when you were undoubtedly dealing with your own challenges. You actively asked to hear about our struggles, both academic and personal, so you could adapt your classrooms accordingly. You listened when we answered.

You chose to expand your role as educators, volunteering your time outside of the virtual classroom to talk to us about your favorite topics and offering helping hands or listening ears for the challenges we faced outside of academics. You virtually welcomed us into your homes and personal lives to make it more comfortable for us to do the same. Some of you conducted recorded interviews of your fellow scholars to make our virtual classes more engaging, some of you bought us a meal, and some of you held extra office hours or stayed in constant communication to check in with us. By doing these and countless other intentional acts that took you outside of your traditional duties as professors, you extended your commitment beyond educating us and took on the role of helping to guide us through these difficult times.

We had hoped to be able to share our gratitude for your impact on our legal education and our lives in person, as we celebrated our entry into the legal profession together. This is far from how any of us pictured we would complete our time at Duke. But, in the midst of this crisis, we saw and felt how you all willingly rose to the challenge of being there for us, in whatever ways and forms possible. This is our way of sharing with you that your tremendous efforts have been both recognized and greatly appreciated. We are hopeful that we will be able to do so properly and in person in the near future.

For everything you have done for us, we are endlessly grateful. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Duke University School of Law, Class of 2020