Jamie S. Gorelick

THE CLASS OF 2005, the largest in Penn Law’s history, got an equally big send-off last May during a commencement ceremony in which they were told to heed the lessons of 9/11 by challenging received wisdom.

Jamie S. Gorelick, a member of the 9/11 Commission, implored these future lawyers to develop a respect for facts, maintain their independence, and appreciate “the cleansing power of transparency,” just as she and her colleagues had done in investigating what led to the worst terrorist attacks ever on American soil.

She also advised students to resist the impulse to shrink from unpopular work, though it may subject them, as Commission members discovered, to criticism and vilification.

“It may indeed be safer … to stay on the sidelines, to avoid the fray, but how satisfied will you be in the end?” asked Gorelick. “And how much worse will your country and your world be if you do not risk the fight? … Great issues will be debated, great arguments won and lost, in your lifetimes. The resulting decisions will be much better if you have engaged.”