A student organization that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender members of the Elon Law community far exceeded a May fundraising goal for sending classmates to a national conference for LGBTQIA+ attorneys.
Dinner for four with Professor Helen Grant and Professor Catherine Dunham? That went for $440.
Attending “Illusions the Drag Queen Show” in Raleigh with friends and Assistant Professor Bob Minarcin? $360 sealed the opportunity.
A Szechuan-style lunch for four with Professor Andy Haile and Professor Enrique Armijo? $220 was the high bid.
Nine prizes sponsored by several popular professors were up for grabs on May 8, 2024, in an evening auction hosted by OUTLaw, a student organization that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender members of the Elon Law and greater legal community.
Auction attendees gathered in the Cemala Foundation Commons to raise money for student travel in August to Washington, D.C., for the 2024 Lavender Law Conference & Career Fair sponsored by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association.
The result by night’s end: $2,400, a 60% increase over an original goal of $1,500.
OUTLaw’s fundraiser also included prize drawings for those who purchased raffle tickets. Winners landed lunches with faculty and staff, themed baskets with tickets to the Greensboro Grasshoppers and the North Carolina Zoo, gift cards to Union Coffee and Joymongerers, certificates for self-defense lessons from Allen’s Defense Combat Systems, and much more.
“It was excellent to see everyone come together in support of such a great cause,” said Nic Parsons L’24, executive director of OUTLaw and a 2023 Lavender Law conference attendee. “I was moved by the sense of community and was personally overwhelmed by the encouragement we received. We hope that this becomes something of a tradition and continues to grow in the coming years.”
I was moved by the sense of community and was personally overwhelmed by the encouragement we received.
Associate Professor Katherine Reynolds advises OUTLaw alongside Assistant Professor Bob Minarcin. Reynolds said she remembers how attendance at the Lavender Law Conference & Career Fair – the nation’s largest conference for LGBTQ+ and ally legal professionals – was a pivotal moment in her own legal education.
“We are a law school that values experiential education. To see that faculty would like students to get these opportunities to expand their own career paths is the least surprising part of this fundraiser,” Reynolds said. “Then to shatter a fundraising goal, driven mostly by other law students buying raffle tickets and bidding on auction items, shows how much community means at Elon Law.”