Community Celebrates UC Hastings and Welcomes Dean Wu

Community and government leaders, judges, leaders of the bar, faculty, alumni and students came together at San Francisco City Hall on the evening of Oct. 7 to celebrate UC Hastings and welcome its new Chancellor and Dean Frank H. Wu.

In introducing Wu, the Honorable Willie L. Brown Jr. '58 said the diversity of UC Hastings reflected "the diversity of this country" and called Wu a "superstar" in the world of legal education. Bruce L. Simon '80, chair of the law school's board of directors, introduced Brown, describing the former San Francisco mayor as "one of the best friends of the school.''

In his presentation, Wu said that "Education is the engine of the American dream." He emphasized access to a legal education and, in the face of tremendous state funding constraints, the collective responsibility of civic and community leaders to make that access possible.

Wu said while most law schools will give students the legal training they need to practice, only a handful, like Hastings, embrace a mission to provide access to students of all backgrounds, from those whose parents spoke with accents to those who served in the military. Those students, in turn, provide access to the communities they go on to serve.

While UC Hastings students are among the top in the nation, Wu said they are "All a little hungrier. All willing to work a little harder," with a commitment to pursue public interest work and civic justice.

Helen Y. H. Hui '74, an immigration lawyer who came to the United States from Hong Kong to attend college, exemplifies the type of Hastings alum Wu described. "It doesn't make you a million dollars," Hui said of her work, "But it's very personally satisfying."

In his closing, Wu joked that he was happy to conclude before the Giant's first pitch.