Speeches
Pages
-
-
Title
-
Wolf Law Building Dedication Remarks: September 8, 2006
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: This is the text of David Getches' remarks at the dedication of the new Wolf Law Building on September 8, 2006, when American Bar Association (ABA) President Karen Mathis, University of Colorado President Hank Brown, and United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer were honored guests and speakers. He talks about the "damn hard work" it took to get to this day: faith, commitment, perseverance, risk-taking, generosity, and civic engagement. There are many historical facts recounted and names dropped in this speech, and he also announces the launch of the DeMuth Chair. Part of the text of his remarks was reproduced in the program that was distributed at the event, and the portion as it appears in the printed program is titled: The journey of the CU Law School: a study in civic engagement.
-
Year
-
2006
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Remarks at the Clifford Calhoun Public Service Award Luncheon
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: In this speech, David Getches notes that when he travels the land on behalf of CU Law, Nort Steuben is often the first faculty member inquired of by alums. He recounts Nort's work for the OECD in the Ukraine when it became a republic. Also, there is a great story David tells about David coming to Boulder on a "reconnaissance trip" 35 years ago, looking for a place to set up an office for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), and Nort encouraging an association with CU Law. Nort invited David to his home, they sipped lemonade, and Nort "gave time, and showed interest in an idea, and a person, he had no reason to embrace, except that it seemed right to him."
-
Year
-
2005
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Welcome Remarks: Conference on "Privacy and the Press: Scoops, Secrets, and Ethics in the New Media Landscape": Friday, December 03, 2010
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: This is David Getches' introduction to the December 2010 Silicon Flatirons Center conference on Privacy and the Press: Snoops, Secrets, and Ethics in the New Media Landscape, which was organized by Paul Ohm. The "coup" of this conference was that it just happened to occur directly on the heels of the major Wikileaks disclosure of State Department communications, and David references that event, along with the law school's experience with "flatly erroneous employment statistics posted on a blog which did its harm when it was in turn picked up by traditional media, and corrections were ineffectual." He also poses a lot of questions about whether publicizing personal information crosses lines of legality, ethics, or just plain decency. This is one of his longer conference introductions, and it has a great ending: "And remember: all you say here is being streamed and recorded. Of course."
-
Year
-
2010
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Message to BLSA: Black Law Students Association: August 16, 2003
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: The very brief address to the Black Law Students Association in August of 2003 (read to them in absentia) is quite significant because it comes two months after the U.S. Supreme Court's Michigan affirmative action decisions on race and admissions (Gratz and Grutter). David says: "If I were there in person I would lift a toast to the viability of our admissions policy that allows us to look at the whole person, including racial and ethnic background." This issue, of course, is far from settled and appears to be up for grabs again in the Supreme Court (see Fisher v. UT-Austin, on the Court's docket in Fall 2012).
-
Year
-
2003
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Welcome to the Class of 2013
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: David Getches starts his remarks by sharing interesting facts about the entering class, but he concludes by talking about the legal profession and its ideals.
-
Year
-
2010
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Remarks at alumni awards banquet: University of Colorado Law School: Wednesday, March 09, 2011
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: This was the 30th Alumni Awards Banquet (2011), and the final banquet of David's eight-year deanship. Judge Carrigan received a special recognition award as a non-alumnus, Richard Schaden was in the audience. The accomplishments of the law school that David mentions include the new LLM program, Leg/Reg course, Schaden Experiential Education Program, successful year of trial and appellate competitions, pro bono pledge program, new Alumni Scholarship, Centers activities, faculty and staff hiring. He also talks about Prof. Pizzi's retirement. On a more somber note, he mentions the deaths of CU law legends, Court Peterson and Clyde Martz, and the difficult times: "harrowing" employment situation for grads, high tuition costs, etc.
-
Year
-
2011
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Scott lecture: Introduction of Scott Peppet: Thursday, November 04, 2010
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: In this introduction, David Getches muses on informational privacy, incorporating the future world imagined in Gary Steyngart's 2010 book, Super Sad True Love Story. According to Ann Getches, this book was a favorite in the Getches household. This lecture also gives David the chance to show his humor by proclaiming "This year's Scott Lecturer is truly a Scott Lecturer."
-
Year
-
2010
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Stearns Award Remarks: May 4, 2011
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: This award is the highest the University of Colorado offers, and is named for Robert L. Stearns, who served as Dean of the law school in the 1930's. David Getches received this award in May 2011, shortly before his retirement. David starts by naming his family members and says to them: "I borrowed your time all these years; consider it a donation to CU." He talks about the challenges higher education faces -- state funding cuts, charges of political indoctrination by professors, etc. -- but he goes on to defend higher education's cherished academic freedom, innovation and efficiency, and its role in ensuring the state's vitality.
-
Year
-
2011
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Commencement 2011 Remarks
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: This is David Getches' last commencement address, delivered on May 6, 2011. In this address, he references events in the world during the term of this law school class, such as the "longest war in American history," the financial crisis, natural disasters, etc. He tells some funny stories about things faculty said or students did in class. He concludes the speech by noting that "Of course, employment statistics are not encouraging. But you are not necessarily a statistic." And he goes on to point to numerous examples of former resourceful alumni striking out on their own or landing jobs in difficult employment years, like the "3 classmates who couldn’t get hired in 1968 and started the Brownstein firm."
-
Year
-
2011
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Introduction of Professor Erwin Chemerinsky: 50th annual Coen Lecture: Tuesday April 24, 2007
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: David Getches introduces Erwin Chemerinsky as the 50th Annual Coen Lecturer in 2007. This speech exudes so much admiration for Chemerinsky's ethics and professional accomplishments; it's quite a tribute. Especially memorable is the part where David recounts that Chemerinsky's wife, Prof. Catherine Fisk, says of her husband's career that "he would give it all up to play shortstop for the Cubs."
-
Year
-
2007
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
"In Memory of Skip Chase": January 12, 1988
-
Summary
-
Jonathon "Skip" Chase served as a Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School (1966-1982); was Founding Director of Colorado Rural Legal Services (1969-1972); and Dean and Professor of Law at the Vermont Law School (1982-1987).
-
Year
-
1988
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Welcome to the Class of 2010
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: David Getches starts his remarks by sharing interesting facts about the entering class, but he concludes by talking about the legal profession and its ideals.
-
Year
-
2007
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Welcome to Admitted Students: Friday, March 31, 2011
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: This is David's longest and strongest sales pitch on why to pursue a legal education, and why to choose CU Law over other law schools. It contains some vintage David lines: "You don’t have to know as you come in the door next August where you will end up, only the kind of person you want to be." OR "Look at the surroundings. Imagine having a life as well as an education here."
-
Year
-
2011
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Welcome to the Class of 2012
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: This is one of the longest speeches of David Getches available in the archives. It is a richer version of his student welcomes in 2010 and 2011. He starts by sharing interesting facts about the entering class, but he concludes by talking about the legal profession and its ideals. The "timeless values" he extols are: integrity, service, equal access to justice, and the rule of law. Regarding the latter, he reminds the listener that the struggle for the rule of law is not limited to developing countries, and he goes on to talk about torture, preventive detention, Guantanamo, and threats to the independence of the judiciary in the US. He concludes by commenting, "I say with confidence that this is a room full of trusted representatives, judges, political and community leaders, solvers of a generation of problems not yet imagined." It is a more formal and deliberate speech than others available in the archives, and could be termed a "legacy" speech. At the end of the text, it lists some of the sources for his remarks.
-
Year
-
2009
-
Type
-
Speeches
-
-
Title
-
Remarks on Court Peterson: Law Review Banquet: March 31, 2011
-
Summary
-
Summary by Jane Thompson: This speech takes place at the first University of Colorado Law Review banquet after former Law School Dean Courtland (Court) Peterson's death. It was also David Getches' last Law Review banquet speech before his own retirement and death. David informs the audience of Court Peterson's background and how Court's mother came to fund the Law Review's Court Peterson Awards for best student article and for leadership. As Court's health declined he turned over the fund to David and the Law School to administer. Court Peterson joined the University of Colorado School of Law faculty in 1959 and served as Dean of the Law School from 1973-1979.
-
Year
-
2011
-
Type
-
Speeches
Pages
