Southwestern Students enjoying a game of craps at the first ever Casino Night/Live Auction. Photo Courtsey of Garen Aliksanian
By Jaspreet Klar, 3L
First Southwestern Casino Night and Live Auction a huge hit
Public Interest Law Week (PILW) raised the stakes this year with the first ever Casino Night and Live Auction. The event was held on October 23, 2009 in the Louis XVI Room from 7pm to 11pm, and was co-sponsored by the Public Interest Law Committee (PILC) and SBA. All proceeds went to the Public Interest Law Summer Grants.
In previous years the Live Auction was the last event of PILW, and was combined with a Variety Show. But this year the week began with a bang with Casino Night as the PILW kick-off event. The evening signaled the start of the many exciting Public Interest Law fundraising events to come.
ìSince it was our first ever Casino Night, there was a lot of work to do leading up to the event for everyone involved,î said Stephanie Herrick, Vice President of PILC. ìThe event turned out better that we could have imagined. Everyone did an amazing job, and we are so grateful for all the support we were given to make this happen.î
General Admission to Casino Night included food, drinks, music and one hundred dollars in ìCasino Moneyî to play at several tables including black jack, roulette, and craps. If luck was not on your side that evening, additional playing chips were provided in exchange for a small donation. Tickets to the Poker Tournament sold out days before Casino Night, and the well-organized tournament was well received.
Over seventy people competed in Southwesternís first ever Texas Holdíem Poker Tournament. The tournament was held in La Directoire, or the ìFrench Roomî adjacent to the Louis Room. Participants in the tournament arrived early to take their seats in what turned out to be a competitive night of poker play. The rounds got more intense as the field of players kept getting smaller throughout the night. The tournament lasted the entire evening with flashy trophies and Southwestern Baskets donated by Institutional Advancement (IA) being awarded to the top three finishers. First place went to first year student Shen Yen, who will also get a brick donated by IA on the Promenade and received books donated by Prof. Norm Garland. Second place went to 3L Melissa Swayze and third place went to Prof. Garlandís wife, Melissa Grossan.
“Casino Night was a HUGE success! We had a bigger turnout than we had hoped for and we have been getting a ton of positive feed back,î said Danielle Foster, Vice President of SBA. ìAll-in-all it was a classy affair: low-lighting, sparkling cocktail dresses, roars of excitement from the craps tables, a thrilling live auction, great food, cocktails, raffles, lots of laughter and smiles, and all in the name of raising money for Public Interest.”
Midway through the event, all table gaming ceased and the Poker Tournament took a recess in order to hold the Live Auction. Eight great items were auctioned off including a Barbri course, two tickets on Delta airlines to anywhere in the continental United States or Hawaii and hotel and restaurant packages just to name a few. One of the most exciting items auctioned off was a Fancy Dinner Party with Professor Popovich and Professor Carpenter at her home for eight students. A bidding war ensued and ultimately the dinner was won by a group of 1Ls for $1,350. In all $7,700 was raised in the Live Auction alone.
As gaming resumed and for the rest of the night, all the black jack tables were full and cheers coming from the craps tables could be heard all through the building. Even though gaming was scheduled to end at 10:20pm, everyone was having such a great time and did not want to leave that SBA extended playing time until 11pm.
At the end of the night, guests were able to turn in their chips for raffle tickets. Every twenty five dollars worth of chips equaled one raffle ticket. Players could then either place all their tickets into one drawing or spread them throughout the over twenty items that were raffled off.
In past years the Live Auction has been the biggest fundraising event during Public Interest Law Week, and this year was no exception. With lady luck on their side, PILC was able to raise money for the Summer Grants while putting on a fun event with SBA. The success of the night would not have been possible without the hard work of the Public Interest Law Committee, the SBA, Student Affairs, Institutional Advancement, General Counsel, the volunteers, and all the guests that attended and contributed.
