Little scolding as Judge Judy addresses Shiprock grads

By Cindy Yurth | May 28, 2015 | People |

Judith “Judge Judy” Sheidlin (second from left) poses for a picture with Shiprock High School graduate Alexus Uentillie and her family. Uentillie won an essay contest to get Sheidlin as keynote speaker at her school’s commencement. (Times photo — Cindy Yurth)

SHIPROCK

There was just a hint of “Judge Judy” Sheidlin’s trademark scolding as she addressed the Shiprock High School Class of 2015 Thursday. Instead, the sternest judge on television was warm, self-deprecating and surprisingly relatable for a bilagáana from a big city clear across the country.

“I liked how she put herself as a minority, as a woman in the legal profession,” said Alessandra Uentillie, aunt of Alexus Uentillie, the senior who won an essay contest to bring the celebrity judge to her school.

The petite 72-year-old New Yorker even concluded her graduation address by wishing the class “a walk in beauty,” drawing a roar from the 3,200 Navajos packing the Chieftain Pit and overflowing into a smaller gym where a screen showed a live video of the commencement ceremony.

Sheidlin described herself as an “unremarkable” student who was “miserable” at standardized tests.

“Nothing in my wildest dreams suggested I would be standing here addressing you as Judge Judy,” she said, noting that her rise to success was based on “a combination of tenacity and luck.”