Law Gathering Day 2010

Friday ? February 12, 2010, Planet Hollywood was packed with young professionals. They were alumni of UPH Faculty of Law, from class of 1996 until 2006. The program was organized by UPH Law Student Association (Himpunan Mahasiswa Jurusan ? HMJ FH UPH), and got warm responses from the seniors. Among the attendees were Prof. D. Kumarga ? former Dean of UPH Law Faculty (1996 ? 2004), and Prof. Bintan Saragih ?Dean of UPH Law Faculty at present.

?I?m so proud, because some of my students can now join reputable law firms,? said Prof. Kumarga, who was one of the UPH Law Faculty founders. He was also the one who came up with the idea of eliminating Vice Dean positions, and only having a secretary and Faculty Director. ?This system is a very low-cost one. Hopefully more universities will follow our foot steps,? he added.

?This is not a regular reunion, so even active students are allowed to attend the program. It?s very useful, because we could also get to know our seniors at the same time, with the hope that they would recommend us to companies,? said Arya ? class of 2000. The statement was seconded by Albert ? class of 2007 & also the Head of the committee, ?The purpose of the Law Student Senate was to equip our own students to be professionals who are sought after in our law environment. In addition to that, it is important to setup networking with alumni who have been in the professional world.? The other specific purpose was to unite existing clubs at UPH Law Faculty.

Similar to Albert?s statement, Prof. Bintan also said that alumni is actually one of the moving forces in career life. ?30% of someone?s successful career lies on the hands of alumni. If you as alumni are performing well at workplace, then you are giving a good image, which in turn will be a benefit for your juniors who are starting their careers.?
In his remarks, Prof. Bintan suggested for alumni donating law books to the library starting the week after the event. ?These books will then be distributed to your juniors who are entering UPH Law Faculty,? he said.

In this program, alumni from each badge were given opportunities to say a few words. One thing that they loved the most was the yearly ?solidarity night? (malam keakraban), where the new Student Senate officers would start functioning. The tradition that has started since 1998 was proven to be the best way to secure relationships between the seniors and the juniors. ?I don?t care if someone labels this malam keakraban childish. The fact is, if it wasn?t because of malam keakraban, the Law Faculty won?t be as united as it is now,? said Adriano Wolfgang Petruschka, class of 2000. The malam keakraban of Student Senate ? UPH Law Faculty is very much different from the usual student orientation paradigm in our society. This statement was seconded by Ibu Maria Natalia, Manager of Career Development & Alumni Center, ?The programs in malam keakraban are meant for unity, nurturing solidarity among students. We could actually create educational programs without involving any ?unusual? physical contacts, such as this event.?

From this session, it was revealed that Law Faculty is very open-minded and always treats its students equally. One proof was when Student Senate ? UPH Law Faculty led by a girl wearing head cover (jilbab), which was a very rare thing to happen at UPH. ?We all supported her because we knew she had a good leading capability, and it was proven very well through her leadership term,? added Adriano.

At the end of the program, Priska Dian Susanto ? Senate Chairwoman of 2009 ? 2010, announced the plan of initiating a Law Faculty Alumni Association. Representatives from each class of 1996 ? 2006 were asked to sign the agreement form, which was then officially launched by the sounds of gavel as normally done in the undergraduate final examinations. (Sar)

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