Giving Tuesday and SBA King Trivia Fundraising Night 2020

On Thursday, November 19, Pepperdine Caruso Law's Student Bar Association (SBA) hosted a virtual event, the SBA King Trivia Fundraising Night, as an alternative to Barrister's Ball, which SBA usually hosts in-person during the fall semester. The SBA student leaders planned a fun night of trivia for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other friends of Pepperdine to build community during this difficult time. SBA also wanted to raise support for the Student Emergency Fund and the students decided that all proceeds from the event would be donated to the Student Emergency Fund.

While planning the event, Pepperdine Caruso Law alum and co-founder of the Student Emergency Fund, Caelan Rottman (JD '18), graciously stepped forward to match dollar for dollar (up to $10,000) every gift given during SBA's trivia night. Caelan challenged all alumni to pay it forward in support of Caruso School of Law's Student Emergency Fund. Following Caelan's lead, SBA also chose to match gifts up to $5,000. SBA continued to give back during the event by honoring the late Pepperdine Caruso Law alumnus Joel Harris (JD '20), who previously held the Student Philanthropy Chair on SBA, and by generously distributing 36 prizes to attendees who made donations during the event.

With 145 event registrants, over $9,000 was collected for the Student Emergency Fund in registration fees and 82 additional monetary gifts were donated online and through Venmo. A total of $2,971 was raised in donations alone and most of the gifts were made by current students. Including the matching gifts, the total donations summed up to $8,913 by the end of the evening.

Pepperdine Caruso Law is so grateful to our current students and other community members who gave to the Student Emergency Fund in this economic climate. The Student Emergency Fund directly benefits students in need, whether it be for medical aid, emergency travel, or another urgent need. During the event, Pepperdine Caruso Law alumnus and co-founder of the Student Emergency Fund, Alex Caruso (JD '17), shared a story about how students used to seek out faculty for financial support before the Student Emergency Fund was established. Now that we are in a global pandemic, emergency financial support for our students is more critical than ever, which is why Caelan Rottman and SBA have both decided to continue matching gifts during the month of December or until they meet their threshold.

Throughout #GivingTuesday and the rest of 2020, we hope you will consider donating to the Student Emergency Fund alongside our current students and the rest of the Pepperdine Caruso Law community.

Donations can be made through the giving platform that may be found here