Amal Clooney urges Vandy graduates to be courageous

Jason Gonzales | The (Nashville) Tennessean

Show Caption Hide Caption Amal Clooney speaks to the Vanderbilt class of 2018 Amal Clooney speaks to the Vanderbilt senior class of 2018 at Memorial Gym.

NASHVILLE — Amal Clooney charged Vanderbilt University graduates on Thursday to be courageous, like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

“Courage, as they say, is contagious,” Clooney, an international human rights lawyer and the wife of actor George Clooney, told Vanderbilt’s 2018 senior class. “People who have had the courage to change their societies, in India, in South Africa, in the United States, inspire each other and create rights for future generations ... there is still much to do.”

Clooney, who shared that it was her first-ever commencement speech, said there are many areas where Vanderbilt's graduates will be needed.

These include in the fight for women's, LGBT, press and immigrant rights.

"At a time when women all over the world face physical abuse, restrictions over their ability to work, own property, travel and even have custody over their children, we need courage," Clooney told the packed auditorium.

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"At a time when more journalists are imprisoned around the world than any time in the last three decades, and even here at home the media is under attack from the White House, we need courage.

"And at a time when our politicians try to conflate the terms 'refugee' and 'terrorist' and make us fear one another, we need courage."

Clooney is one of the world's most prominent international human rights lawyers, having represented clients who include political prisoners, ousted heads of state and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos awarded Clooney the college's highest honor, the prestigious Nichols-Chancellor’s Medal.

She's a visiting professor at Columbia Law School, a frequent adviser to governments on international law and has held a number of posts within the United Nations.

While serving in the U.N.’s International Court of Justice in the Hague, she worked on the genocide trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

In the past year, she successfully represented three political prisoners. All have been released from detention.

She said she's had the privilege to work with amazing attorneys and people throughout the world who have all shared the courage to change the world.

"We need young people with the courage to say this is our world now and there are going to be some changes," she said.

And at the end of her speech, she said she's certain the graduating class will be the guiding light.

"I believe you, the Class of 2018, will show courage," Clooney said. "And my generation is counting on you."

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