During orientation at the Appalachian School of Law, members of the incoming Class of 2029 took an important step beyond simply beginning law school: they pledged themselves to the standards of the legal profession.
Chief Justice Cleo E. Powell of the Supreme Court of Virginia joined ASL’s first-year students to administer the school’s Professionalism Oath, a longstanding part of the transition from student to future attorney.
Powell became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia on January 1, 2026, becoming the first African American woman to serve as Chief Justice in the Court’s history.
In recent years, ASL has added another meaningful dimension to the professionalism tradition. The individual who administers the Professionalism Oath to a class during orientation is invited to return three years later, when that same class graduates, to offer an exit message as students prepare to enter the profession.
That means Chief Justice Powell’s words to the Class of 2029 serve as both a beginning and the first chapter of a conversation that will continue at commencement.
Following the oath, Chief Justice Powell also spent time speaking with students in her role as ASL’s diversity mentor. Her discussion encouraged students to recognize the value of different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives within both the law school community and the legal profession.
Rather than treating diversity as a single conversation or initiative, Chief Justice Powell encouraged students to remain open to learning from one another throughout their legal education. Her message reflected the broader responsibilities students accept as they prepare to enter the profession: to listen thoughtfully, approach others with respect and remain willing to consider perspectives beyond their own.
The Professionalism Oath places those responsibilities before students at the very beginning of their ASL experience. It is a reminder that becoming an attorney involves more than mastering legal doctrine. It also requires integrity, civility, service, judgment and respect for the people and communities the law exists to serve.
For the Class of 2029, the oath marked one of their first shared experiences as law students. Three years from now, Chief Justice Powell is expected to meet them at the other end of that journey, when the promises made during orientation become responsibilities they will carry into the profession.
