US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to visit Notre Dame
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan will visit the University of Notre Dame on Sept. 22 (Friday).
Justice Kagan will be the first speaker for the 2023-24 Notre Dame Forum. She will participate in a conversation with G. Marcus Cole, the Joseph A. Matson Dean of Notre Dame Law School, at 2:30 p.m. in the Leighton Concert Hall of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.
The Notre Dame Forum, hosted by University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., has been held annually since 2005, with events each year focused on a central theme of particular importance to the University, the nation and the larger world. This year’s forum theme is “The Future of Democracy.”
“We are honored to host Justice Kagan at Notre Dame, and to hear her reflections on the unique role of the judiciary in our democracy,” Father Jenkins said. “I hope this important conversation will encourage each of us to reflect more deeply on the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship and how we can contribute to the flourishing of our democracy.”
The talk will be free, but ticketed, and open to members of the Notre Dame campus community. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office one hour prior to the event. Attendees will need to show their Notre Dame identification card at the door.
A livestream of the conversation will be available to watch on Notre Dame Law School’s YouTube channel. The event will also be open for media coverage.
In addition, Justice Kagan will meet with Notre Dame Law School students and faculty during her visit.
“We are deeply honored to have Justice Elena Kagan visit Notre Dame Law School,” Cole said. “Our students, faculty and the entire Notre Dame community will benefit from getting to know one of our nation’s greatest jurists.”
Justice Kagan was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama on May 10, 2010, to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. She was confirmed by the Senate in August 2010 and became the 112th justice and fourth woman on the court.
Prior to her Supreme Court nomination, she served as the solicitor general of the United States, a position that Obama nominated her for in 2009.
Between 2003 and 2009, she served as the dean of Harvard Law School. She also served for four years in President Bill Clinton’s administration as associate counsel to the president and deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy.
A native of New York, Justice Kagan is a graduate of Princeton University. She received a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Oxford and earned her juris doctor from Harvard Law School.
Justice Kagan will be the seventh of the nine sitting justices on the Supreme Court to visit Notre Dame in recent years. Prior justices visiting campus include Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Clarence Thomas. In addition, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg visited Notre Dame while serving on the court.
Learn more about the 2023-24 Notre Dame Forum at forum.nd.edu.
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