By Gwyneth K. Shaw
Ex-U.S. Rep. Colin Allred ’14 will speak at UC Berkeley Law’s commencement ceremony on May 16 at the Greek Theater.
“I am delighted that former Congressman Colin Allred, a graduate of UC Berkeley Law, has accepted the invitation to be our commencement speaker,” Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says. “His many impressive accomplishments, and his dedication to public service, make him the perfect person to address this year’s graduates.”
Allred, a Democrat, served three terms representing Texas’ Dallas-area 32nd District before waging a Senate campaign against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in 2024.
Raised in Dallas by a single mother, a public school teacher, Allred attended Baylor University on a football scholarship, earning First Team Academic All-Big XII honors and graduating with a degree in history. He was set to start law school when the National Football League came calling, and played for the Tennessee Titans as a linebacker before a serious neck injury ended his career in his fifth season.
Allred met his wife, Alexandra Eber ’14, in a Law of Democracy class at UC Berkeley Law when they were both 2Ls.
After graduating, Allred returned to his home state to work for Wendy Davis’s gubernatorial campaign, overseeing the state’s first statewide coordinated voter protection program. He then joined Perkins Coie LLP as a voting rights litigator, representing a range of clients and organizations in election and voting rights law.
In 2016, Allred was appointed by President Barack Obama as a special assistant to the general counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — then led by fellow Texan Julian Castro — helping families access affordable housing and fair treatment by landlords and banks.
After returning to Texas, Allred ran for Congress in 2018 and defeated an entrenched Republican incumbent in a nationally watched, high-profile race. Allred was elected as the co-president of his congressional freshman class and became the first member of Congress to take paternity leave when his first child was born just weeks after he was sworn in.
During his time in Congress Allred was a nationally-recognized leader in protecting voting rights and preventing election subversion, a staunch defender of democracy and human rights while serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and a tireless advocate for protecting women’s reproductive rights after the fall of Roe v. Wade.
Allred has kept strong ties to the law school, earning its annual Young Alumni Award in 2022. Last fall, he helped kick off UC Berkeley Law’s new leadership academy program, speaking to the inaugural cohort of 1L students on Zoom about how pivotal the school was in his career arc, the importance of meaningful relationships he built there, and how leadership skills are vital throughout all aspects of one’s professional path.
Allred says he’s excited by the opportunity to celebrate this year’s graduates.
“I am very proud to be invited to be the featured commencement speaker at my alma mater,” he says. “I look forward to congratulating the graduating class and their families on this momentous accomplishment, and to sending them off into their legal careers with a reminder of the responsibility that comes with their legal training during these challenging times.”