Opening Statements

Penn Carey Law’s strategic framework, Excellence in Action, articulates the Law School’s shared vision and  priorities for the future. Rooted in the qualities that have long defined the Law School, it emphasizes transformative scholarship and the preparation of flexible problem solvers equipped to practice, lead, and serve at the highest levels across the legal profession and communities, locally and globally.

Expand pathways into, through, and beyond Penn Carey Law.

The Law School traces its roots to an effort to make legal knowledge broadly accessible to all who participate in our democracy. Today, that commitment remains central to the Law School’s mission. Expanding access means focusing on three dimensions of the student journey: guiding students into, through, and beyond law school.

• Opening pathways into Penn Carey Law ensures that talented students from different backgrounds can enroll and thrive, supported by financial aid, and our deep commitment to access.
• Supporting pathways through law school means cultivating an environment where every student is equipped with the resources necessary to excel academically, grow professionally, and engage fully in this community.
• Expanding pathways beyond Penn Carey Law empowers our graduates to pursue ambitious careers of their choosing.

These pathways are deeply interconnected, forming a self-reinforcing cycle: as Penn Carey Law graduates pursue meaningful and wide-ranging careers, more prospective students can see a Penn Carey Law education as attainable and aligned with their own aspirations.

Prepare lawyers to embrace innovation while strengthening the cross-disciplinary perspectives that define Penn Carey Law.

Amidst a rapidly changing legal landscape, innovation must be central to how we prepare Penn Carey Law students to navigate and shape the future of the law, underscoring our commitment to leading its continued evolution. This goal guides our approach to education and scholarship, as faculty pursue field-defining research at the intersection of law, technology, and society, informing both classroom learning and the development of legal thought.

The Law School balances traditional academic excellence with the flexibility and openness to curricular innovation necessary to respond to—and help shape—evolving legal practice. Backed by deep institutional priority, we must provide our faculty with the tools to integrate cutting-edge approaches into their teaching and scholarship, ensuring our graduates are ready to thrive and lead in their careers.

The Law School is also deeply committed to preserving one of our most distinctive strengths: interdisciplinarity. A faculty culture that brings together multiple fields and modes of inquiry shapes our scholarship and the student experience. Faculty and students engage across Penn’s world-class schools to generate the transformative insights and agile problem-solving that define our community and our graduates. Going forward, the flexible thinking and broadened perspectives cultivated by our cross-disciplinary approach will be increasingly valuable to our faculty, students, and graduates.

Foster a culture of collegiality that advances collaboration, rigorous debate, and shared achievement.

A deeply collegial and inclusive community has long been a defining strength of Penn Carey Law. It shapes how we learn, teach, and engage with one another. This culture attracts students, faculty, and staff who value collegiality and, in turn, strengthen and extend the very environment that drew them here.

Collegiality serves as a scaffold for the kind of rigorous engagement across difference that is core to legal education and scholarly inquiry. It encourages curiosity, supports open exchange, and enables productive debate. Together, these qualities deepen the collective pursuit of knowledge while also helping students develop the judgment and interpersonal skills that are essential for meaningful careers in law and, we predict, will only grow more significant as the profession evolves. We cannot take this well-established culture for granted. Instead, we must intentionally cultivate and sustain it.

Nurture an ethos of service, leadership, and community-building that prepares graduates to lead with integrity and purpose.

A Penn Carey Law education opens doors to careers across sectors, disciplines, and geographies. Yet what distinguishes our graduates is not only where they go, but also how they lead. An ethos of service—rooted in the belief that the privilege of legal education carries a responsibility to advance justice and serve the public good—remains one of our most enduring values. This commitment is reinforced by our faculty’s groundbreaking scholarship on law, justice, and public service. As technological change and evolving market demands reshape the profession, the practical preparation, leadership, and sense of purpose bred by this commitment to service become only more important.

Through clinics, pro bono work, and externships, students confront real-world challenges and see firsthand the effect of their legal work on individuals and institutions in Philadelphia and around the world. Meanwhile, our vibrant student life provides meaningful opportunities for leadership development. The Law School must continually refine and adapt these experiences to ensure they practically prepare graduates for career-long success while also fostering a sense of meaning that can carry into fulfilling, purpose-driven careers.