Dozens of families visited Greensboro, North Carolina, for an annual event that demonstrated what life is like for Elon Law students preparing to serve as lawyer leaders.
Elon University School of Law’s 9th annual Friends & Family Day welcomed dozens of families and loved ones to campus for a Saturday program that included mock classes, moot court demonstrations and a panel discussion featuring students who shared professional success stories.
The morning event also included a silent auction that raised more than $5,000 toward student scholarships on the 90-plus items donated by faculty, staff, alumni and community businesses.
The Family and Friends Day annual silent auction has become a tradition at Elon Law, organizers said.
“This event is a key example of how Elon Law’s faculty, staff, students, alumni and families all come together to contribute to student scholarships and support the philanthropic mission of our institution,” said LaDaniel Gatling, Elon Law’s assistant dean for development. “With the growing excitement and success of this auction, we make giving fun for both our donors and supporters, and thus we enhance our potential for scholarship offerings so that we can recruit and retain the most talented students.”
Companies that made donations included:
- Schiffman’s
- VF Corporation
- Carolina Women’s Health
- Mack and Mack
- O’Henry Hotel
- Downtown Fitness
- GreenHill Center for NC Art
- Dame’s Chicken and Waffles
- Bliss & Co.
- Red Cinemas
“Friends & Family Day is really a time to reconnect students with their loved ones, and give them an idea of what a day in the life of their student looks like, without all the stress,” said Stacie Dooley, director of Student Life at Elon Law. “We hope that our guests understand how hard their student is working, and that all of the time, effort and money spent will be worth it in the end. And we just want to show off our law school and hope they have fun.”
Students who volunteered for the morning programs said their interest in sharing personal stories from law school stems from a desire to help those who will follow in their footsteps.
“My hope for the parents and students who attended Friends & Family Day is that they gained insight to what law school life is like when you first start and how it evolves as you proceed closer and closer to graduation,” said Tola Familoni L’17, one of the five Elon Law students who participated in the panel discussion. “It is hard for people who are not immersed in the environment to understand how consuming the work and the pace can be. They can also see how exceptionally easy it is to lose sight of things that are occurring in the outside world.
“I wanted to be involved in Friends and Family Day because as a 3L I have the ability to make the road a bit easier for those 2Ls and 1Ls that are coming behind me.”
To be successful in law school, students need relatives to get a glimpse of what their world looks like, and how they can support them throughout their time in school, said Sharon Dunmore L’17.
“My family attended Friends & Family Day when I was a 1L and it was a true eye-opener for them,” said Dunmore, another of the student panelists who took part in the Saturday program. “In fact, to this day, my father tells me that it wasn’t until he attended Friends & Family Day that he understood the the toll law school takes on me, and the information he gathered that day helped him understand the type of support I needed going forward.”
Elon University School of Law, the nation’s preeminent school for engaged and experiential legal education, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Elon Law leads the nation in the number of required experiential academic credits all students must complete to graduate from a 2.5-year program that gives graduates a head start on their professional careers.
Stay connected with Elon Law on Facebook and Twitter and learn more about the program at law.elon.edu/admissions.