Jeb Bush to Keynote Ave Maria School of Law Commencement

NAPLES, Fla., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Ave Maria School of Law (AMSL) announced today the details of plans for the May 15, 2010 Commencement Ceremony, the first such event to be held in Naples since the law school relocated from Ann Arbor, Michigan in summer of 2009. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush will deliver the keynote address at one of Southwest Florida's finest venues, the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts.

"This is a momentous occasion for Ave Maria School of Law," Acting Dean and Acting President Eugene R. Milhizer said. "Our first Commencement in Naples is a truly historic occasion and we are honored that Governor Bush - a leader whose achievements are known well to the people of Naples and throughout Florida - will be our keynote speaker."

Governor Bush joins a prestigious group of Ave Maria School of Law Commencement speakers. Since the law school's founding in 2000, globally recognized leaders from the legal community, politics, and the Catholic Church's hierarchy have addressed students at their graduation. Among them are United States Senator Sam Brownback, United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, and former archbishop of Detroit Adam Cardinal Maida.

"A fine annual Commencement Ceremony with a speaker of high stature is one of the benefits we promised the Naples community when we initially announced relocating our law school," Milhizer concluded. "This is an example of the enrichment our institution will offer to the cultural life of southwest Florida. There is no prouder day for Ave Maria than when we recognize our graduating class who have accomplished so much during their time as law students and are filled with hope as they transition into promising careers as attorneys."

ABOUT AVE MARIA SCHOOL OF LAW

Ave Maria School of Law offers a rigorous legal education characterized by a commitment to professional excellence, the highest ethical and moral standards, and the integration of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Since its opening, Ave Maria has enrolled students from 49 states and abroad and from more than 200 colleges and universities. Alumni of the Law School are now practicing law in more than 40 states and several other countries. Ave Maria School of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association.

Ave Maria School of Law was founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2000, and in 2009 relocated to Naples, Florida. The law school welcomed its largest first-year law class ever - more than 200 students - when the academic year began at the new Florida campus on August 24, 2009.

SOURCE Ave Maria School of Law