Commencement Speaker Justice Jude Pate Mixes Solemnity and Joy

“May my words fall like feathers on your shoulder,” began Alaska Supreme Court Justice Jude Pate ’93, speaking to the Lewis & Clark Law School Class of 2025. Lingít friends and mentors taught him the phrase, he explained, to let the audience know you come with the best of intentions. Feathers symbolize the spiritual world in Lingít culture. In a joyful nod to that tradition, Pate, Dean Ouellette, and graduating students blew bubbles from bottles labeled “Super Miracle Bubbles.”

Acknowledging the major challenges this new class of future lawyers faces, Pate urged the graduates to sustain their spirit through “love, hope, peace, and joy,” to seek out community and connection and “let peace be your purpose.”

Pate has lived in Alaska for 29 years, practicing law there for 28. He was appointed to the Alaska Supreme Court in 2023. For two decades, he has volunteered for the Color of Justice program, which inspires Alaska Native students to pursue legal careers.

“My reminder to you is that childhood is not a stage of life to be outgrown, instead it is wisdom that should be built upon. And when the news is grim and unrelenting, and you start to grow suspicious, inflexible and judgmental, you only need reach back into your childhood imagination to reset the universe and begin anew.” Pate concluded with a song he wrote, accompanied by his former classmate Cary Novotny ’94, on guitar.