Auction Nets $17K for Public Interest Work
March 19, 2009 — Earle Mack School of Law shook off the doldrums of mid-March to raise money for the warm summer days when some students will take unpaid public-interest jobs.
During the Second Annual Student Public Interest Network Slice of Justice Auction, students and professors readily shed some of their cash – along with their dignity – in an event that has become a much anticipated late-winter ritual.
Professor Kevin Oates set the pace, singing a rendition of “Folsom Prison Blues” that was not exactly criminal but danced dizzily along some ethical boundaries. Soon afterward, 1L Tony Diulio followed with a version of the Joe Cocker hit “Feelin’ Alright” that seemed to channel the angst of the entire student body during Finals Week:
… I got to leave before I start to scream
But someone's locked the door and took the key
Feelin' alright, (uh oh)
I’m not feelin' too good myself, (uh oh)
Fortunately, the event gave students ample opportunity for payback, including a quiz show that pitted 3L Elise Randall, 2L Kevin Frost, 2L Joe LaRosa and 1L Drew Coursin against professors David Cohen, Rex Glensy and Anil Kalhan.
While the teams were admittedly uneven, the score was even more lopsided. The professors were soundly drubbed by the students, with a final score of 1100 to -800. The professors started off strong in sports and trivia. One of them correctly shouted out the correct answer to a proximate cause tort law question before it was even uttered. This apparently encouraged the faculty team to bellow tort terms throughout the competition, regardless of the question. By the midpoint, the students started to pull away, and they never looked back.
The auction itself featured the donation of dozens of goods and services, including a lunch with Mayor Michael Nutter, which garnered $1,050. Lunch with Professor Dana Irwin and happy hour with Professor Bret Asbury brought in $500 apiece.
“I was hoping that they would get their feet wet so, they would be better advocates as 3Ls,” Oates said. “But they won. They demonstrated that they’re already tremendous advocates.”
In a flurry of bidding for the ritual pie toss, 3L Thomas Lilley paid $300 to lob a cream pie into the countenance of Professor Barry Furrow. Professors Cohen and Kalhan, representing the junior faculty, teamed up to pay $200 to serve Senior Associate Dean
Dan Filler with his just – if messy – desserts.
"Why should students have all the fun around here?”, Kalhan asked.
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