• Mission Week 2009 keynote speaker Shirin Ebadi, in an interview, said she knew that one day the clergymen who had forced out her judgeship in Iran would regret that decision.
• Ebadi said that religion is not made up of prayer alone, but service as well.
• Ebadi has had influences in her life, but has never believed in role models.

Iranian human rights activist and lawyer Shirin Ebadi became one of the first female judges in Iran in 1969. She was only 21 years old.

In 1979, she was stripped of her position during the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

"I was in court when the letter was given to me," Ebadi said of the official notification of her removal. "I put my pen down and knew that one day they would regret to have lost a judge like me."

When she lost her judgeship, she said it was a failure for her, but at the same time she said she felt worse for women losing their status in Iran.

Oct. 10, 2008, the day she received the Nobel Peace Prize, was the day clergymen in Iran were regretting their decision, Ebadi said.

Ebadi delivered the Mission Week 2009 keynote address last Thursday in the Alumni Memorial Union and received an honorary doctorate of laws degree from the university.

Joseph Kearney, dean of the Law School, told the gathered crowd of students, faculty and staff that Ebadi "has been a voice for the oppressed for a long time," even in the face of her own assassination, imprisonment and oppression.

University President the Rev. Robert A. Wild said Ebadi is someone to be emulated.

In an interview before the keynote address, Ebadi, speaking through a translator, talked about her life.

During her youth, Ebadi said she fell in love with an idea she could not name. Later, she recognized it as justice.

In school, she said she would always help and defend bullied children. In some cases, she would get beaten up as well.

Ebadi said any failure can be turned into a victory. All people need to do is take a step back, then take a fast jump to get over it. But most of all they must not lose hope, she said.

Just as sports strengthen the body, praying exercises and develops the mind, Ebadi said. Yet prayer is not all that a religion is, she said.

"Service is the completion of prayer," Ebadi said.

All religions in the world speak about service for others, she said. Service is a core part of Marquette's mission.

"It is unfortunate that people forget about service for others. Praying is good, but not the whole focus of any religion. But God will love you more if you help others too," she said.

Raised in a modern, educated Muslim family, Ebadi said her family and education have influenced her.

One of her influences was a professor who encouraged her to write and read a wide range of books. He encouraged her to write because it was a way for her to gain knowledge about her character.

"My professor would always tell me that humans are like a perfume bottle," Ebadi said. "If the bottle is never opened, you will never know what is inside. Writing is like opening the bottle."

But said she has never had a role model in her life — each person has certain qualities and opportunities that pertain to only them.

"There is no one pattern that can be cut out from one person,and used for everyone else," she said.