Riklin: Student groups help with connection and community

A consensus among law students is that student organizations are what keep us sane.

Through student organizations, we make connections with the legal world, find friends, and have fun.

For me specifically, the Women’s Caucus at IU McKinney School of Law has had a huge impact on my law school experience. The Women’s Caucus offers potential leadership roles and community to all law students who support women.

For practicing attorneys, the Women’s Caucus offers a chance to connect with current law students as well as a chance to give back to the community through sponsorship and donations. The Women’s Caucus puts on events and networking opportunities throughout the school year, with our annual auction only being one of many.

I joined the Women’s Caucus at IU McKinney to connect with other women in the legal community and build meaningful connections with like-minded peers.

The group has provided me with a supportive environment where I can collaborate with others who share similar goals and values. It has also given me the opportunity to take on leadership roles, helping me develop key skills and become more involved in shaping initiatives that support women in law.

Through the Women’s Caucus, I’ve not only gained valuable professional insights but also made lasting friendships with women who are equally passionate about making an impact in the legal field.

As someone committed to using my voice to amplify others, being elected as one of the Women’s Caucus Auction chairs and entrusted with selecting the event’s beneficiary was a responsibility I wanted to execute to the best of my ability.

Last summer, I attended philanthropy events, like Leadership Indianapolis’s Get on Board fair at Newfields, to learn more about the plethora of local organizations the Women’s Caucus could help support next with the auction.

There, I met the amazing staff from Dove Recovery House for Women. After learning more and discussing options with my fellow co-chair, we finalized a poll and presented the organizations to the Women’s Caucus general body.

All the options were fantastic local groups, but the general body ultimately voted to support Dove Recovery House. Dove House empowers Indiana women to become substance-free, self-sufficient, and healthy by providing them with safe housing, quality programming, and hope for the future.

A McKinney tradition for over 45 years, the Women’s Caucus Auction consists of a live auction, where attendees bid on professors’ donated “experiences” like golf outings or dinners at restaurants, and a silent auction with items donated by local businesses and individuals.

All proceeds from ticket sales and the auction items go directly to our beneficiary. This year, the 47th annual auction will be held on Feb. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at Inlow Hall.

The auction is attended by esteemed members of our legal community, law school students and administrators, and our beneficiary members. Additionally, the auction is a great way for law students and local attorneys to get involved with a passionate student organization.

This year, we are hoping to include more crowd-pleasing live auction items to encourage bidding participation from students, faculty and the general public!

A periodically updated list of live and silent auction items can be found on our website (https://iu-mckinney-womens-caucus.square.site/), but we already have Indiana Pacers tickets and a parking pass for the game, a wine tasting experience, box seats to an Indianapolis Indians baseball game, skiing vouchers at Perfect North, and a gift certificate to apply toward a scenic hot air balloon ride.

Our website is the Women’s Caucus hub for all things about the auction. There, you can buy student or general admission tickets to the event, browse what is available so far for bidding, and submit individual virtual donations.

The auction also accepts sponsorship donations from firms and businesses at the platinum, gold, and silver levels which include a program feature at the event.

If you have any questions about the auctiont, Dove Recovery House or making donations, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].•

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Allie Riklin is a student at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.