Events and Calendars

The Post-Inauguration Town Hall took place January 21 at 1:00 p.m. via Zoom. A conversation with Professor Richard Broughton, Professor Nick Schroeck, and Professor Leslie Scott about the inauguration and the possible priorities of the new Biden Administration.

Violence and Disorder at the Nation’s Capitol: The Legal Issues took place on January 14, 2021. Professor Richard Broughton and Professor Jelani Jefferson Exum discussed impeachment along with the 25th Amendment and 14th Amendment, the pending and future criminal prosecutions and sentencing prospects, potential uses of the President's pardon power, and scope of the right to protest.

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law hosted Bending the Arc Toward Justice on Jan. 30, an event to kickoff Black History Month that included a portrait unveiling of Henry H. Tarrant ’22, the first known African American graduate of Detroit Mercy Law; remarks by Godfrey J. Dillard, a civil rights trailblazer and one of the lawyers who represented the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) in their lawsuit against the university in the early 1980s; the launch of the new Henry H. Tarrant Award for Black Student Excellence; and an introduction of the Association of Black Law Alumni (ABLA), led by Judge Terrance A. Keith ’84, and ABLA’s new scholarship for African American students, the David Williams II and Gail Carr Williams Endowed Scholarship Fund.

Bending the Arc Toward Justice Photo Gallery

To view current and past Commencement Ceremonies, Baccalaureate Mass' and Hooding Ceremonies, visit our Graduation Events page.

The 2020-2021 Virtual Commencement Ceremony took place on Friday, May 14
Click here to view the program book.

Watch the Class of 2021 Virtual Commencement.

The 2020-2021 Virtual Baccalaureate Mass took place on Thursday, May 13 
Click here to view the program book.
Watch the 2021 virtual Baccalaureate.

The 2020-2021 On-Campus Hooding Ceremony took place on Friday, May 14 
Watch the 2021 Hooding Ceremony

The McElroy Lecture on Law & Religion provides a forum for prominent thinkers to address fundamental issues of law and religion. This is an annual event that Detroit Mercy Law presents every year.

2020

The Ironies of Religious Liberties Litigation, presented by Professor Cathleen Kaveny of Boston College Law School, examined the legal victories of religious believers and how they are premised on our own rights instead of what we owe others with different beliefs.

McElroy Program

The Dewitt C. Holbrook Lecture on Social Justice is an annual event that Detroit Mercy Law presents every year. The lecture provides prominent leaders in the legal profession a forum to address issues on law and policy related to social justice. It is made possible through a grant from the Dewitt C. Holbrook Memorial Trust.

2021

On March 2, 2021, the 3rd annual lecture was presented by Professor Ruqaiijah Yearby of Saint Louis University School of Law. The lecture titled “Now or Never: Eradicating Structural Racism in the Government’s Pandemic Response” was via Zoom. 

About the Speaker

Professor Ruquiijah Yearby, J.D., M.P.H., is a Professor of Law and member of the Center for Health Law Studies at Saint Louis University School of Law. She is also co-founder and Executive Director of Saint Louis University's Institute for Healing Justice and Equity. Professor Yearby is an expert in racial health disparities, who advocates for equal access to quality health care and fair wages for racial and ethnic minorities, women, and the poor. Her work has been published in the American Journal of Bioethics, Health Affairs, and the Oxford Journal of Law and the Biosciences and been used in law and medical schools, and social science classes at universities such as Harvard, NYU, Fordham, and the University of California Berkeley.

The Patrick A. Keenan Appellate Advocacy Tournament is held annually in honor of the late Patrick A. Keenan, a beloved Detroit Mercy Law professor who taught at the School for over 30 years. Keenan’s wife, Marge, and other Keenan family members attended the final round of this year’s competition.

2020

Our annual Red Mass dates back to 1877, when Detroit College, as the University was then known, began its first year with a mass at Saints Peter and Paul Jesuit Church to ask the blessing of the Holy Spirit on the coming year’s work. The School of Law continued the tradition when it opened in 1912, again hosting the Red Mass on behalf of the Archdiocese of Detroit at Saints Peter and Paul through the present. Today, the Red Mass is attended by judges, lawyers, civic leaders, faculty, and law students of all faiths, asking God to bless, strengthen, and enlighten us, so that in cooperation and mutual trust we may effectively achieve justice.

2020

Red Mass Photo Gallery

Red Mass Program

2021: Pandemic: From Disparity to Equity

For the 105th Law Review Symposium, it took place on Friday, March 5, 2021, the Symposium was VIRTUAL. All panel sessions and keynote address was hosted via Zoom. 

Master Calendar
View dates for events and more.
Questions? Contact Sunny Kerschenheiter, Events Coordinator, at kerschsc@udmercy.edu.

Before planning a virtual event, please review the above calendars to avoid date conflicts and then submit an event request form. Please direct questions about planning an event to Sunny Kerschenheiter, Events Coordinator, at kerschsc@udmercy.edu.

Event Request Form (PDF)

Event Request Form (Web)