Commencement Speaker Announced

Martin J. Jenkins, a 1977 Santa Clara University alumnus and an associate justice of the California Supreme Court, will be the keynote speaker at the 2024 commencement ceremony on June 15. 

Jenkins has been on the court since Nov. 10, 2020, where he serves as the first openly gay justice and the third African American justice in the history of the court. He graduated from Santa Clara with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history while playing defensive back for the Bronco football team, before briefly playing for the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. He then attended law school, graduating from the University of San Francisco in 1980. The school’s Board of Trustees later awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2018.

Jenkins worked in the district attorney’s office in Alameda County before joining the United States Department of Justice as a trial attorney, where he worked in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division. He later became a federal district judge for the Northern District of California until 2008, following a nomination by President Bill Clinton. In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom ‘89, appointed Jenkins to his current position on the Supreme Court of California.

Throughout his career, Jenkins has received numerous awards and accolades for his exemplary work in law and policy. He was first recognized for his exceptional scholarship with the USF Law School’s Judge Harold J. Haley award in 1980. In 1998, Jenkins was given the St. Thomas More Award, “In Recognition of His Distinguished Record of Service to His Church, His Community and His Family," and received the 2009 Children’s Advocacy Award for his legal services supporting children against exploitation and abuse. He was also awarded the Lewis F. Powell Jr. Award for Legal Excellence from the American Inns Court.