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 calendars, register to attend upcoming events, and view videos from past events below.
Thursday, May 13 at 5:00 p.m. (EST). LIVE STREAMED from Ss. Peter and Paul Jesuit Church
The Class of 2021 and their families and friends are invited to view the live streamed service with their fellow graduates and Detroit Mercy Law and Dental faculty and administration. The Baccalaureate Mass, celebrating the 2021 Law and Dental graduates, offers a moment of quiet reflection and thanksgiving for your educational journey at University of Detroit Mercy, and an opportunity to ask for God’s blessing as you begin your career. Members of all faiths and traditions are welcomed.
Father Gilbert Sunghera, SJ will be the celebrant and Catherine Punsalan-Manlimos, Assistant to the President for Mission Integration, will give the reflection. We look forward to your joining us for this celebration of the class of 2021.
May 14: Commencement 2021
Friday, May 14 at 12:00 p.m. ET, Virtual
Detroit Mercy Law will honor the Class of 2021 with a virtual Commencement Ceremony. The video link will be posted on Detroit Mercy Law's website as well as the University's official Commencement page for viewing and sharing with family and friends.
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
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.
Bending the Arc Toward Justice
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.
The McElroy Lecture provides a forum for prominent thinkers to address fundamental issues of law and religion.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
