Students at Baylor University School of Law recently discovered that auctioning off social events with professors can be a successful way to raise money. The Waco school’s inaugural professor auction, held last month, raised $2,600 for the local chapter of Court Appointed Special Advocates, says Ashley Parker (pictured), a third-year law student and president of the law school’s chapter of Phi Alpha Delta, which organized the event. “We thought it was a great opportunity to give students and professors a chance to know each other outside the classroom,” Parker says. “Sometimes we students forget professors are real people, too, who enjoy cooking, running and softball games.” Parker says her $260 bid won a cooking lesson for a group of five students in the home of assistant law professor Connie Powell. “She had us make gumbo, grits and gravy and pecan pie that was out of this world,” Parker says. “It was so much fun. I love cooking. That was definitely the event I wanted to go on.” Skeet shooting with law professor David Guinn garnered the highest bid of $380, Parker says. Guinn describes himself as a pheasant and dove hunter and says he’ll be taking a group of four or five students to shoot clay targets at the Waco Skeet and Trap Club and then to dinner at Diamond Back’s Steakhouse Restaurant. “We’ll really have a good time,” Guinn says. “Practicing law is a serious, stressful business. I’ve told the youngsters all through school, they need hobbies on the side to relieve the stress.” Jordan Pauluhn, a first-year student and officer in Baylor Law’s chapter of Phi Alpha Delta, says he and a few students bid together to spend time with Guinn. “I have never shot a gun before,” Pauluhn says. “That was part of the award. I like to challenge myself to try and do new things.”
-- Jeanne Graham
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