Nobel winner to speak at law graduation
Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights lawyer and the first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, will deliver the graduation address to the Law School's Class of 2005.
Ebadi's talk, "The Role of Social Justice in Reducing Terrorism," will be delivered in Farsi, and translated into English by an interpreter, during the school's graduation celebration on Sunday, May 15.
Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Prize for her efforts to promote peace, democracy and human rights in the Middle East. She is the first woman in the history of the Iranian justice system to serve as a judge. A decade after taking her seat on the bench, however, following the Islamic Revolution, she and her female colleagues were forced to resign.
Ebadi became a prolific writer and human rights advocate. She founded two non-governmental organizations, the Association for the Support of Children's Rights in Iran and the Center for Defense of Human Rights, which offers legal aid to the families of imprisoned activists and journalists. She is currently representing the family of Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist who died in 2003 while in Iranian custody, a few days after being arrested for taking photos of a student protest in Tehran. Ebadi herself has been arrested and imprisoned for "disturbing public opinion," and barred from practicing law at various times.
With the June Iranian presidential election approaching, Ebadi recently criticized the hard-line Guardians Council, which screens all presidential candidates, for interpreting Iran's constitution as only allowing men to be president.
"The entire Class of 2005 is thrilled to have such an accomplished lawyer and avid defender of human rights address us on the most important day of our law school experience," said class co-president Peter Michael Koski. "Ebadi has established herself as an extraordinary world leader. Not only was she the first female judge in Iran, but she has used her position to advance democracy and defend the rights of women and children in the Middle East, proving herself to be an individual of remarkable vision and courage-qualities worthy of emulation by this year's graduating class."
Larry D. Kramer, dean of Stanford Law School, said: "One of the things we hope to do at graduation is to send our students off to begin their careers with the sense that they can and should strive to make a real difference in the world. Shirin Ebadi exemplifies this. Obviously not all our graduates will win the Nobel Peace Prize. But all can, and we hope will, have careers that reflect the same sort of courage and determination."
Stanford Law School's graduation ceremony will be held Sunday, May 15, 2005, at 10 a.m. in Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium, and is part of celebration for graduates, their families and friends, and members of the Stanford community.