Past Events
Detroit Mercy Law hosts numerous educational and social events throughout the year for prospective and current students, alumni and friends, legal scholars, and community members. We invite you to view our past events below.
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State of the Law School
The Current Events in the Law Series kicked off with the State of the Law School that took place on Friday, September 24, 2021 followed by the Constitution Day program. New Dean, Jelani Jefferson Exum discussed the current happenings at the Law School and the vision moving forward.
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Constitution Day Program
The 2021 Constitution Day program titled “Understanding the Law of Reproductive Rights in the U.S. Today” featured panelists Ederlina Co, Associate Professor of Law from the University of the Pacific, Catherine Archibald, Associate Professor of Law from University of Detroit School of Law and Merissa Kovach from the Michigan ACLU. The program was moderated by J. Richard Broughton, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs & Professor of Law at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
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Post-Inauguration Town Hall
The Post-Inauguration Town Hall took place January 21, 2021 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.
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Violence and Disorder at the Nation’s Capitol: The Legal Issues
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.
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Bending the Arc Toward Justice
University of Detroit Mercy School of Law hosted Bending the Arc Toward Justice on Jan. 30, 2021, 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
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Commencement Ceremony
To view current and past Commencement Ceremonies, Baccalaureate Mass' and Hooding Ceremonies, visit our Graduation Events page.
The 2023 Commencement Ceremony took place in-person on Friday, May 12 at Calihan Hall on the McNichols Campus of University of Detroit Mercy.
- University President : Donald B. Taylor, Ph.D.
- Dean: Jelani Jefferson Exum
- Vivere ex Missione (Living the Mission) Award recipient: Emily Elmer '23
- Commencement Speaker: Te Honorable Michelle M. Rick ’91, Judge, Michigan Court of Appeals
- Grand Marshal: Cristina D. Lockwood, J.D., Professor of Law
- St. Thomas More Prayer: Brandon J. Hayes ’23
- Graduate Remarks: Madison R. Orow ’23
- Invocation: Pamela Zarkowski, J.D., M.P.H., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University
- Alumni Speaker: Kyle R. Dufrane '98, President of the Alumni Association Board of Directors
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McElroy Lecture on Law & Religion
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.
2023
Watch the 2023 McElroy Lecture
The 2023 lecture took place on October 24 at 5:00 p.m. in-person at Detroit Mercy Law. The McElroy Lecture on Law and Religion provides a forum for prominent thinkers to address fundamental issues of law and religion. The lecture, titled “Religious Lawyering in a Polarized World” was presented by Dr. Amy Uelmen, Director for Mission & Ministry at Georgetown Law.
OVERVIEW: Building on the seminal work of Tom Shaffer (On Being a Christian a Lawyer, 1981), the late 1990s and early 2000s saw a very creative ferment in reflection on how religious values might inform legal education and the practice of law. Much of this "religious lawyering" work relied on core presumptions and convictions about the foundations of the Rule of Law, liberal democracy, and the legal profession's capacity to welcome and critically discuss differing approaches to professional life. This lecture will consider how cultural and political changes in the intervening years have arguably tested some of these assumptions, and in light of that history, probe what religious lawyering insights might contribute to current debates in legal ethics and approaches to professional life.
About Dr. Amy Uelmen:Dr. Amy Uelmen is the Director for Mission & Ministry at Georgetown Law, a Lecturer in Religion & Professional Life, and a Senior Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. Her seminars at Georgetown Law include: Religion & the Work of a Lawyer and Religion, Morality & Contested Claims for Justice. She is the author of numerous academic and popular publications, including “Five Steps to Healing Polarization in the Classroom,” with New City Press. Her BA, JD and SJD are from Georgetown, and her MA in Theology is from Fordham. A longtime member of the Focolare community, her grassroots community work focuses on interreligious dialogue, projects for economic justice, and workshops to heal cultural and political polarization.
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Dewitt C. Holbrook Lecture on Social Justice
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.
2023
On April 13, 2023, the 5th annual lecture was presented by Justice Kyra Harris Bolden '14. The lecture series provides prominent leaders in the legal profession a forum to address issues on law and policy related to social justice. This year’s lecture titled “Justice for All” is presented by Justice Kyra Harris Bolden '14, Michigan Supreme Court.
What is justice for all and how does Michigan achieve that goal? Justice for all is more than a lawyer for every defendant but a justice system that provides a pathway to resolve concerns while treating everyone with dignity and respect. A comprehensive approach to justice for all includes courts that are engaged with local communities, that support and nurture families and children at risk, that provide access to treatment for behavioral health disorders, and embrace the problem-solving model that focuses on making participants whole again.
About the Speaker
Justice Kyra Harris Bolden joined the Michigan Supreme Court on January 1, 2023 when she was appointed by Governor Whitmer, making her the first black woman to serve as a Justice. She is a graduate of Southfield Public Schools. Justice Bolden chose to remain in Michigan for her studies, receiving her bachelor’s degree from Grand Valley State University and Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
As a former State of Michigan House Representative, Bolden advocated for Michiganders as a member of the Judiciary Committee and focused her work on criminal justice reform, crafting and passing bipartisan legislation to protect survivors of sexual violence. Justice Bolden successfully passed pieces of critical bipartisan legislation into law, including the “Medically Frail” prison reform package, the revision of the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act, and the “Address Confidentiality for Survivors of Domestic Violence” package.
Justice Bolden has a deep respect for the law and has seen the depth and breadth of law in her years of practice and lawmaking. After becoming a member of the State Bar, Justice Bolden practiced as a criminal defense attorney. Justice Bolden then served as a Judicial Law Clerk in Wayne County’s Third Circuit Court under the Honorable Judge John A. Murphy. As a Judicial Law Clerk, Justice Bolden performed legal research, made recommendations to the Judge on legal interpretation based upon relevant case law, and drafted opinions on a myriad of civil issues. Bolden then practiced as a civil litigation attorney with Lewis & Munday, P.C., in several practice areas before joining the Michigan Legislature in 2019.
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Patrick A. Keenan Appellate Advocacy Tournament
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
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Red Mass
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.
2021
2020
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Law Review Symposium
Visit the Law Review Symposium page to view past symposiums.
Fallout: Legal Impact of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Detroit Mercy Law Review presented the 107th Symposium on the Fallout: Legal Impact of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine on March 3, 2023. This is a tragic event that has reverberated across the world. Fallout from it impacts a broad variety of legal specialties. While some of these impacts are yet to be fully realized, it is important to begin discussion and analysis of them.