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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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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Commencement Ceremony
To view current and past Commencement Ceremonies, Baccalaureate Mass' and Hooding Ceremonies, visit our Graduation Events page.
The 2025 Commencement Ceremony took place in-person on Friday, May 9 at Calihan Hall on the McNichols Campus of University of Detroit Mercy.
View the Class of 2025 composite photo.
Watch the 2025 Law Commencement Ceremony here.
2025 Commencement Photos- University President: Donald B. Taylor, Ph.D.
- Dean: Nicholas J. Schroeck, J.D., Professor of Law
- Vivere ex Missione (Living the Mission) Award recipient: Cassandra Kayla Weck Wun ’25
- Commencement Speaker: Gary Peters, MBA ’84, U.S. Senator
- Grand Marshal: Catherine Archibald, J.D., Associate Professor of Law
- St. Thomas More Prayer: Hunter J. Broski ’25
- Graduate Remarks: Maya J. Mourani ’25 & Jared M. Colthurst, Dual ’25
- Invocation: Rev. Charles O. Oduke, Ph.D., Vice President for Mission Integration
- Alumni Speaker: Kristin E. Fernandez ’19, 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.
2025
The 2025 lecture took place on October 23. The McElroy Lecture on Law and Religion provides a forum for prominent thinkers to address fundamental issues of law and religion. The lecture, titled “Next Steps for Church Autonomy” was presented by Professor Stephanie Barclay, Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School, and the Faculty Co-Director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution.
OVERVIEW: This lecture will examine emerging frontiers in church autonomy jurisprudence across several critical contexts: the doctrine's application as a defense to defamation suits arising from religious discipline, tensions between ministerial exception principles and employment protections, the use of collateral appeals to prevent process as punishment in autonomy disputes, and proper judicial deference to internal religious governance. The lecture explores potential doctrinal developments that would be important to both religious liberty and individual rights while avoiding the constitutional hazards of excessive entanglement with religious affairs.
About Professor Stephanie Barclay: Stephanie Barclay is a Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School, and the Faculty Co-Director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. Her research focuses on the role our different democratic institutions play in protecting minority rights, particularly at the intersection of free speech and religious exercise. Barclay‘s work is published or is forthcoming in leading journals such as the Harvard Law Review, the Chicago Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal Forum.
Barclay is a Faculty Affiliate at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School; and she is a Nootbaar Fellow at the Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics at Pepperdine University. She currently serves as the Chair for the AALS Law and Religion Section and as a Member of the Executive Committee for the AALS Constitutional Law Section. She is completing a Ph.D. in Law at Oxford University as a Clarendon Scholar and a Tang Scholar.
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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.
2025
This lecture is taking place on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. This lecture series, made possible through a grant from the Dewitt C. Holbrook Memorial Trust, provides prominent leaders in the legal profession a forum to address issues on law and policy related to social justice. This year’s lecture is presented by Simon Tam and co-sponsored by the Arts, Communication, Entertainment & Sports Section of the State Bar of Michigan.
Simon Tam and Joe X. Jiang (The Slants) will deliver a presentation of storytelling and songs about the 2017 Supreme Court case Matal v. Tam.
About the Speaker
Simon Tam is an author, musician, activist, and self-proclaimed troublemaker. He is best known as the founder and bassist of The Slants, the Asian American dance rock and anti-racist band that won a landmark case at the U.S Supreme Court in 2017 to help expand civil liberties for marginalized groups. Simon's work has been highlighted in over 3,000 media features across over 150 countries, including Rolling Stone, TIME, NPR, BBC and the New York Times. He is also a co-founder of The Slants Foundation, a nonprofit organization that is pushing the boundaries of what is possible for arts, activism, and civic engagement. -
Law Review Symposium
Visit the Law Review Symposium page to view past symposiums.
From Theory to Practice: Mastering the Art of Effective Legal Advocacy
Detroit Mercy Law Review presented the 109th Symposium on "From Theory to Practice: Mastering the Art of Effective Legal Advocacy" on March 7, 2025.