Fordham Law’s 2019 graduation ceremony commencement speaker, U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen, was featured in a Law360 article for her address to the graduating class which drew from the comedy “Mean Girls.”
With advice stemming from “Mean Girls” and encouragement to resist the impulse to play it safe, 2019 law school commencement speakers haven’t hesitated to commend diversity and urge their future legal colleagues to embrace new opportunities amid what many referred to as challenging times.
During their recent addresses to graduating classes across the country, U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen stressed the importance of authenticity and former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch underscored the need for lawyers to create their own paths — even if that means breaking from others’ guidance.
…“To find happiness and success you have to be authentic. You have to be true to yourself. Don’t be a Plastic,” she said during her speech on May 20, referring to the group of the most popular girls and main antagonists in the movie.
For most of the film, the protagonist Cady Heron pretends to be one of the Plastics. But as Judge Chen noted, being a Plastic leads Heron to give up her role as a superstar in the school Mathletes Club and her friends who make her truly happy.