Congratulations to 2023 and 2024 Graduates

May 31, 2024

Thomas Jefferson School of Law hosted its commencement exercises on Sunday, May 12, at the Balboa Theater in downtown San Diego. The event honored December 2023, May 2024, and projected August 2024 graduates of the law school’s Juris Doctor, Masters of Law, and Doctor of Science of Law programs.

Alumna Lorena Slomanson (2003), Outreach and Community Relations Manager for Legal Aid Society of San Diego, gave the commencement address. She celebrated the hard work of the graduates, and their loved ones, that brought them to this celebratory point. Her speech passed along wisdom learned from her career including that the graduates define what success means to them, to choose their inner circle wisely, to embrace imperfection and a growth mindset, to embrace the power of determination, and to look forward to bar prep as a time to put all of the pieces together.

Valedictorian Cynthia Santos Barbosa (2023) was the Juris Doctor graduate speaker for her class. Her speech focused on the accomplishment for herself and her classmates, highlighting many of the challenges those in the room had overcome to achieve this goal. Of note, she highlighted how many first generation law students were included in this graduating class, as well as how many immigrant or first generation Americans were in this class.