PILA Benefit Auction Raises $39,253

The total amount of funds raised from the 14th Annual PILA Benefit Auction, held Oct. 18, is expected to be $39,253 — about $10,000 more than last year's total, according to auction director Patrice Gay. The live auction alone raised $19,480, with students bidding on such goodies as a basketball game with professors, tickets to Saturday Night Live, and stays in vacation getaways.

"PILA would like to thank the students and faculty for their wonderful support of the auction," Gay said.

Gay said popular items included a stay at professors Robert and Elizabeth Scott's Nantucket home, a graduation party on the Lawn with Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Beverly Harmon, a week-long stay at a student's home in Vermont, a graduation dinner with professor Anne Coughlin, and numerous other dinners with professors.

The biggest item — dinner and a movie for 12 with lawyer-turned-author John Grisham — sold for $1,900. The single parking pass available during the live auction sold for $775 (normally sold for $290).

The silent auction included gift certificates for restaurants, Circuit City, and Andrew Minton Jewelers; golf lessons; home-cooked dinners; fly fishing, guitar, and ice skating lessons; and offers from journals to get out of cite checks. Not all money has been collected from the silent auction.

PILA, the Public Interest Law Association, donates all proceeds of the benefit to support students who work in public service positions during the summers after their first and second years of law school.

All photos courtesy yearbook staff.

Professors Elizabeth Magill (left) and Anne Coughlin help auction a vacation to a ski and golf resort in Vermont.
Professor Anne Coughlin helped serve as auctioneer.
	The silent auction tables.
The live auction audience.
Professor Stephen Smith, right.	(L-R) Laura Soong, Emily Fan, Sharon Yuan, and Alison Perine.
Students peruse the offerings of the silent auction.
(L-R) Professors Elizabeth Magill, G. Edward White, and Anne Coughlin.
(L-R) Professors Jon Cannon, John Harrison, Anne Coughlin, and Liz Magill all donated services and/or biddable items to the live auction.
The PILA Benefit Auction and Dance is the largest fundraiser PILA sponsors.