Stanford Law students recently elected Daniel Khalessi as president of the Stanford Law Review making him the first Muslim, Iranian-American president. Khalessi attended Stanford University as an undergraduate, receiving his B.A. in International Relations with Honors and a Certificate in Iranian Studies in 2013.
“Like the founders of this law review, my presence here is unlikely,” Khalessi tells SLR. “I am the son of Iranian immigrants. My father died when I was nine years old. And I had to come to terms with who I was as a kid growing up in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks and the tensions between my country and the country of my heritage. The notion of becoming the first Muslim and Iranian-American president in the 74-year history of the Stanford Law Review was completely foreign to me. I hope my election demonstrates some degree of progress. But I also want to make it clear that there is still so much more progress to be made as we strive to build a more tolerant and inclusive legal community and society.”
