Welcome speech by Rector of Riga Graduate School of Law, Dr. Pietro Sullo
31 August 2020
Dear RGSL Students,
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you at the Riga Graduate School of Law for the beginning of the academic year and to see that also this year so many young and talented individuals have chosen RGSL.
Today we first meet in a virtual environment due to the restrictions imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic which prevented me from reaching Riga, but I am confident that the situation will improve immediately and we will have the chance to meet in person and to engage in a fruitful, constructive dialogue.
This is a crucial day both for RGSL staff and for you, as it marks the beginning of a terrific learning experience, an interesting journey towards the fulfilment of your career ambitions. I am proud to accompany you through this journey together with RGSL staff with passion and dedication, well aware that this journey will entail both, moments of joy and true discovery but also some challenges, for which you have to be prepared.
I do believe that RGSL is a perfect match for you due to several reasons, which include its cutting-edge multidisciplinary teaching and research agenda, its international and open-minded environment, as well as the student-centered approach.
We aim at forging students who question and challenge the traditional boundaries between disciplines as we are aware that legal phenomena can be understood only through the lenses provided by other disciplines, including (but not limited to) economics, history, sociology and philosophy.
At RGSL you students will find yourselves right in the middle of the learning process and will be asked to take active part in it, by contributing to setting of your learning objectives.
Furthermore, at RGSL you will not only learn the so-called ‘law in the books’ but also the law in practice. The skills you will be equipped with during the academic activities will be ‘transferable’ to your working context, making you a lawyer ready to the challenges of the global job market.
Finally, allow me to stress that the smooth running of this academic year also strongly depends on you students: we are facing an unprecedented challenge posited by the Covid pandemics, and it is crucial that you familiarize yourselves with and stick to the health rules adopted by RGSL.
I wish you a wonderful beginning in the academic year and I am very pleased to welcome you in the RGSL family.
Stay healthy,
Pietro Sullo,
Rector of the Riga Graduate School of Law