A Message From The Queen

The Jordan Times reports here that Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan spoke at her alma mater, the American University in Cairo, and encouraged students to become more involved in public service activities.  She also emphasized the importance of universities encouraging their students to become more involved in public service work by integrating civic engagement opportunities into their curricula.


Queen Rania said, "often, social progress doesn't come from governments looking down, directing change.  It comes from communities, families and individuals looking up, driving society forward themselves, fueled by nothing more than an idea or instinct to do good.  It comes from civic engagement." More civic engagement by young people is also important, Queen Rania emphasized, to improve the image of the Middle East throughout the world.  She said, "I'm tired of the Middle East being perceived as a fractious, fragmented region, when we're renowned for our loving devotion to our families . . . when our culture is built on a foundation of compassion and charity."


I applaud and support Queen Rania for her commitment to encouraging public service among the young people of the region. Moreover, her call on universities to lead the way by instilling in their students a commitment to civic engagement and public service is laudable.  


I think an important part of our responsibility as law professors is to provide opportunities for our students to learn to appreciate their civic responsibility as lawyers. Being a lawyer is an enormous privilege, but with this privilege comes important responsibilities. Dean Charles Hamilton Houston said, “A lawyer who is not a social architect is a social parasite.” The starting point is teaching students how to be professionally ethical, but we have an obligation to do more.  We must strive to inspire in our students an appreciation of the potential of the law to improve people’s lives and to help students recognize their responsibility to use the law to effectuate positive change.