Hailing from across the country and around the world, 273 individuals arrived on campus last week, bringing a range of life experience with them. A short time ago, they were a chemistry teacher, an airline pilot, a standup comic, a Navy diver, a bioengineer, a professional guitarist, a college student, a mentor to LGBTQ+ youth, and a server at Applebees, among other professional and volunteer roles. But when they walked into the Marillac Hall Auditorium and took their seats for Convocation, they became the St. John’s Law J.D. Class of 2026.

The incoming 1Ls join the Law School community with outstanding credentials, including a median LSAT of 162 and a median GPA of 3.71. They are also the most diverse class ever, with 42% identifying as students of color and 14% identifying as LGBTQ. They come from 125 different colleges, 24 different states, and 21 different countries. Thirty-five were born outside the United States, and 77 were the first in their family to go to college.

With that solid foundation, over the next three years, the newest cohort of St. John’s lawyers will gain knowledge in the classroom; build practical skills hands on through journals and competition teams; and make a vital connections as members of student groups and with the support of dedicated career counselors. The students will also have opportunities to experience and invoke the law’s transformative power as they serve historically underrepresented and marginalized individuals and communities in the Law School’s clinics.

Before they stood to take the professionalism oath that has become a Convocation rite of passage—along with a group selfie—Dean Simons reminded the incoming students that they are now part of a close-knit, warm, and welcoming community that includes more than17,000 alumni worldwide and dedicated faculty, administrators, and staff at St. John’s Law. “You have all taken different roads to get to this moment, when you’re starting the journey that will turn you into a lawyer,” he said, adding, “We’ve been waiting for you, and we can’t wait to walk the next three years of this journey with you.”