Alumni Weekend 2024, April 11-14, was extra special for the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. As alumni have come to expect, the weekend was chock-full of favorite events, including the Alumni Honors Banquet, Golden Graduates Luncheon, Family Picnic, and Reunion Class Dinners. This year, graduates also had the singular opportunity to unite in celebration of Maryland Carey Law’s 200th anniversary.
(L-R) Renée McDonald Hutchins, dean, Maryland Carey Law; Bill Ferguson, president, Maryland Senate; Jay Perman, chancellor, University System of Maryland; Tamika Tremaglio, chair, Maryland Carey Law Board of Visitors; and Bruce Jarrell, president, University of Maryland, Baltimore, blow out candles on a 200th birthday cake.
The highlight of the weekend was Friday night’s bicentennial bash at the beautifully restored M&T Bank Exchange a block from the law school. The gracious space welcomed a glittering who’s-who of the Maryland legal community, with speakers including U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, JD ’67; Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, JD ’10; University System of Maryland Chancellor Jay A. Perman, MD; University of Maryland, Baltimore President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS; and Maryland Carey Law Board of Visitors Chair Tamika Tremaglio, JD ’95, MBA. Attendees also enjoyed a recorded greeting from Gov. Wes Moore.
“It is the people who make Maryland Carey Law such a special place,” Dean Renée McDonald Hutchins, JD, said in her remarks, “so coming together with you to mark this moment is beyond wonderful.”
Following Hutchins was keynote speaker Cardin, who is part of four generations of family members who have attended Maryland Carey Law. Cardin looked back on the development of what came to be known as the school’s Cardin Requirement, which guarantees and requires a clinical experience for all full-time day students. He recalled how, in 1987, professor Michael Millemann, JD, approached the Maryland legislature and proposed the requirement. Cardin, a U.S. congressman at the time, successfully led the charge in the legislature to provide the resources enabling the requirement.
“I know the Clinical Law Program at Maryland Carey Law is ranked fifth,” Cardin said, “but it’s the best program in the country.”
Also in the lineup was the video from Moore, who was unable to attend in person. He congratulated Maryland Carey Law on the school’s impact on the state of Maryland, saying, “This is not just a law school celebration or even just a Baltimore celebration. It’s a Maryland celebration.”
The program culminated as the dean led dignitaries in blowing out candles on the law school’s “birthday cake.”
Other Maryland notables present were Comptroller Brooke Lierman, JD; Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue, JD; Secretary of Appointments Tisha Edwards, JD ’00; Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby; and Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken.
Read more about Maryland Carey Law’s 200 years of history.