Campus Life
Lighting the Way
The Hon. Benjamin T. Reyes II Inspires Graduates
Together with faculty, family, and friends, the USF Law Class of 2025 gathered in St. Ignatius Church to mark their law school graduation.
The Honorable Benjamin T. Reyes II ’92 served as commencement speaker and delivered a clear charge to graduates: use your law degree to pursue justice, serve others, and protect the truth.
Judge Reyes wove personal reflection with professional conviction, drawing on his journey from an immigrant family to his current role on the Contra Costa County Superior Court bench. He reminded graduates that their degrees come with responsibility.
“You will face moments when doing what’s right comes with a cost — professionally or personally,” he said. “But you must stand firm. In the face of injustice or indifference, be the voice for those who have none.”
Throughout his address, Judge Reyes returned to the metaphor of fire — not destruction, but ignition. Drawing on the Jesuit motto ite inflammate omnia — “Go, set the world on fire” — he told graduates that their legal careers must be powered by three essential elements: the heat of their ambition, the fuel of their training, and the oxygen of community.
Representing the graduating class, Lindsey Hom ’25 invited her fellow graduates to reflect on their law school years and expressed gratitude for their collective journey. Quoting Justice Thurgood Marshall, Hom reminded the Class of 2025 that while the legal system can force open doors, it can’t build bridges. “That job belongs to you and me.”
