Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar, the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former justice of the Supreme Court of California, delivered a keynote address in which he stressed the power of democracy, its fragility and the importance of preserving it.

“Together,” he said, “we can ask a version of the question that John F. Kennedy asked in 1960: not what American democracy can do for us, but what, together, we can do for its cause.”

He elaborated on how the graduates, as lawyers and advocates, have the power to be a positive force in challenging times.

“What is at stake today? What is at stake is the very power to engage in national renewal, to get past where we have been,” he said. “Strengthening our democracy only happens when we understand how fragile it is. That’s where you come in, not just through the clients you are going to serve but through the ideas you are going to protect: guilt requires proof, rules merit respect or revision subject to fair process, effective argument calls for empathy more than emphasis, and progress almost always requires compromise. … Democracy-protecting lawyers, you are going to show the way.”

He continued, “Still, nothing about what I am calling on you to do is too difficult for you. Because I do not think any one of you would trade places with any other generation that has it easier. Because you don’t want to live with regret for what you lost. Because here you learned that power, your power, comes not only from rhetoric or reason but from realizing that democracy lives not just in the headnote of a case but in the chamber of a heart.”

Other speakers included graduating students Abigail Smith, on behalf of the J.D. class; Shreyashi Sharma, for the LL.M. grads; Peter Arceo, for the M.L.S. class; and Sareen Khakh, the 3L class president. Lauren Ahaddian, a J.D. graduate, sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Khakh said, “Law school is not easy, even in the best of circumstances, and as a class, we have faced our fair share of challenges. We have risen to these challenges by banding together and demanding better, not just of our university and the legal system, but of the world. We have demanded a world that is just, free and equitable. And we will continue to do so throughout our legal careers.”

“We chose to be here,” Arceo said. “We did it because we had a dream to study law and to make a difference for our communities. Some of us were inspired by leaders in the legal community, and others, the passion to make a positive change for our careers or society. … Those who came before us have shown us the path to success, to be brave, and to help the world become a better place. It is what being a true Bruin is all about.”

“All of us took that leap of faith, to overcome borders, countries, financial hurdles and immigration processes to come together to pursue our passions,” Sharma said. “What is it that has made all of this [our UCLA Law experience] fulfilling for us? It is the human bonds, with all their richness and tension, that we have created in these diverse experiences and learning among each other. … Time immemorial, these bonds have had the power to transform laws, policies and systems.”

“Meeting you made me hope that law school, instead of being torture or, perhaps, alongside it, could actually be fun. The students at UCLA Law are some of the brightest, funniest and most interesting people I’ve ever met,” Smith said. “I can’t imagine what we will achieve over our entire legal careers. … The most important measure of a person is how they treat other people, and this class truly measures up. … I am excited to see what each of us contributes to the legal field and the world at large.”

Watch the full commencement ceremony and read more about the event.

Bass and Murray detailed several responses to homelessness that they have implemented while the magnitude of the issue has ballooned. “You have to address the problem comprehensively, there’s no little solution here,” Bass said, in stressing the complexity of the problem. For example, “one of the first things that we have to figure out how to do is to prevent people from becoming unhoused to begin with. … [But] there is no model to prevent homelessness.”

Another intervention that she and Murray discussed was building affordable long-term housing, including on public lands. But that, she added, brings other challenges. “I don’t want to force things in neighborhoods because that will create ferocious NIMBYism and unending lawsuits,” Bass said. She detailed how the city is working together with people living in neighborhoods so that they welcome new housing for people in need. “We need an all-hands-on-deck situation here. All of you can help educate the people in your neighborhoods that the world is not going to end if you build affordable housing.”

Murray said that collaboration – between the city and the nonprofit, and between those entities and neighbors – is key. “If you go and talk to [neighbors], you can usually get a majority of them to support what you’re doing,” he said. “But what you have to do is, you have to promise people that you will manage it well. You have to promise people that there won’t be tents out in front of the building. You have to promise people that there’ll be active services.”

Murray also underscored the importance of “livability” in the units that are built for homeless people. “You’ve got to make it such that they want to stay there,” he said.

Considering all of the factors and individuals involved, Murray said, “We have to define what a ‘win’ is” – be it simply moving people off the streets or doing that in addition to helping them get affordable housing and providing them with resources such as medical care.

Ultimately, Bass encouraged the students and others in the audience to help in the work that she and her nonprofit partners are doing together to address homelessness – a massive effort that balances immediate action to get people off the streets while building sustainable programs that adjust to avoid unintended consequences. “This problem is solvable,” Bass said. “Every single person here has skin in the game.”

The Lowell Milken Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofits will present its next public event online on June 6, as part of a series, “The Modern C-Suite,” that is produced by the law school’s executive education program. The center’s panel presentation features distinguished nonprofit professionals and shines a light on the biggest challenges that nonprofit leaders face today.

Waterstone spoke about how he has relied on Korobkin’s counsel to navigate the terrain as a new member and leader of the UCLA Law community. He also remarked that Korobkin “is a mensch” who “serves without ego” and brightens the lives and minds of his colleagues and students. Of particular note, Waterstone said, is the fact that Korobkin has been the driving force of the law school’s expansion in graduate education, including the “overwhelmingly successful” five-year-old M.L.S. program and burgeoning executive education program, as well as his widely praised service as interim dean.

“Few people have had more of an impact on the current shape of our student body and the lives and the education and people from all the different professional backgrounds that come here to study than Russell,” Waterstone said. “He has really planted these magnificent seeds in this garden that will keep growing for years to come. All of this just gets to one part of [his] excellence as an administrator, but I think it’s clear to all of us that that work has been driven by someone who cares deeply about his students as a teacher, in educating our students and connecting with them and sending him out in the world to do great things.”

In his remarks, Korobkin – who joined the UCLA Law faculty in 2000 – placed his teaching award and the importance that he applies to educating law students in a broader context of his own experience as a law student and member of the UCLA Law faculty, which is known to value teaching. He offered amusing vignettes on the inspiration that he took from his teachers when he was a student at Stanford Law School, and he traced his growth as an outstanding instructor whose students consistently recognize his clarity, insight, care and “lively and engaging” classes.

“One of the things that I think really makes UCLA Law stand out is the overall quality of our teaching, it’s incredibly high,” he said, in accepting the Rutter Award. “Teaching matters here, in promotion and tenure decisions – and it doesn’t at every top school to the same extent. And as a result of that, I think we don’t tend to attract the professors that only care about research and are not interested, really, in teaching. And the faculty culture then reinforces this institutional dedication not just to adequate teaching but to really have excellent teachers.”

He also spoke about how he aims to “go beyond the nuts and bolts” in every class, “to try to help students get a little bit of a deeper appreciation of the law’s internal structure or external impact.” He said, “I feel a lot of pressure in this regard, actually, to be honest, and it does create a fair bit of stress for me, to try to feel like I have to say something insightful about each topic. But I feel like the time and money that our students invest in our classes really entitles them to be able to walk away from each class session believing they’ve learned something more.”

In something of an impromptu conclusion, Korobkin’s daughter, Jessica, a student at Stanford University, stood up to share a few words about what she has learned from her father.

“I have to say, it is not probably the easiest thing in the world to grow up with a negotiation professor as a father,” she said, drawing a roar of laughter. She focused on how he notably taught her how to be a strong writer, which puts her at an advantage now in school – and, apparently, as a public speaker. “Thank you for that,” she said. “His teaching is not just in the classroom with law students. It also was very much for me.”

Watch the TED talk on the power of empathy in negotiation that Korobkin recently delivered.