Charleston School of Law graduates 132 in ninth class
May 10, 2015
Prominent novelist tells graduates to dream, take risks and prove naysayers wrong
CHARLESTON, SC – New York Times bestselling novelist Dorothea Benton Frank told new graduates of the Charleston School of Law to take risks and prove their naysayers wrong during their careers.
“Dream a dream as big as you can imagine and start figuring out how to realize it,” the locally-born novelist said during Sunday’s commencement ceremony in which the school conferred juris doctor law degrees on 132 students of the Class of 2015.
“Take risks, but calculate them. This brings us to the issue of courage, and the courage you’ll need to take a calculated risk.”
Frank, whose son is a member of the Class of 2015, said graduates shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes in the days ahead.
“Let me assure you that for every success I’ve ever known, the road behind me is littered with mortifying mistakes because sometimes you just get blindsided. People make mistakes. You will make mistakes. You learn more from failure than success anyway. Just try not to make the same ones over and over.”
Dean Andy Abrams told graduates that the Sunday ceremony was called commencement because it marked the beginning of their legal careers.
“You are about to join a profession that has the capacity to do great and often wondrous things – to right wrongs, to protect the downtrodden and the oppressed, to ensure that justice is available to all, not just to the wealthy and the powerful, but available to all.”
Frank’s first novel, Sullivan’s Island (2000), debuted in ninth place on The New York Times bestseller list. It went back to press more than 25 times. Each of her other novels made the Times bestseller list. Her 16th novel, All the Single Ladies, is scheduled for publication in June.
Frank, who has served on numerous Charleston-area and metro New York City nonprofit boards, divides her time between the Lowcountry and New Jersey. She and her husband have two adult children.
PROFILE OF THE CLASS OF 2015
Total graduates: 132 graduates, including 27 from December 2014.
Age range of graduates: 24 to 56.
Geographic distribution: 83 (62.9%) from South Carolina; 49 (37.1%) from out of state.
Gender: 75 males; 57 females.
Public service. Members of the Class of 2015 completed 14,207.34 hours of pro bono public service as of April 10, 2015. Since the school started in 2004, Charleston School of Law students have performed 297,245 hours of public service in pro bono projects and externships.
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