When the Victors for Michigan campaign launched last November, Diane Hilligoss had a lot of other things on her mind. The dual-degree student in law and business was balancing coursework in one of the world’s top law schools and MBA programs while also caring for her daughter, born four months prior.
As the inaugural Victors for Michigan Scholar, however, she’s definitely paying full attention now.
In February 2014, an anonymous donor from the Class of 1951 and his wife gave nearly $300,000 to establish the Victors for Michigan Scholarship Fund. The donors wanted to support the Law School’s top funding priority and commemorate the newly launched Victors for Michigan campaign. They also wanted to create an opportunity for other alumni and friends of Michigan Law to do the same; gifts of $25,000 or more to the fund are welcomed.
“Since graduate education is so expensive, gifts from alumni who want to support the next generation are incredibly important,” says Hilligoss, who was awarded the first Victors for Michigan Scholarship this fall. “Receiving that kind of assistance is a wonderful blessing for my husband and me.”
Before enrolling at Michigan, Hilligoss worked at Eli Lilly and Co. in Indianapolis, where her role with the transparency operations team led to close collaboration with in-house counsel. “I realized it was the kind of work I wanted to do long term, and I also realized that doing so without a law degree wasn’t sustainable,” she says.
At Michigan, Hilligoss has taken advantage of strong health care-related offerings at the Law School and the Ross School of Business, including a weeklong health care policy course in Washington, D.C.
“Although it was an MBA class, the heavy legal underpinnings made it a practical experience for my legal career.” She put her academics and previous experience to use during the summer as a law clerk in the U-M Health System’s legal department. “Because of my work at Lilly, I was the resident expert on the Physician Payment Sunshine Act,” she says, “which was an incredible feeling and made me even more confident that I’m on the right path.”
Outside of class, Hilligoss is a contributing editor of Michigan Law Review and a senior judge for the Legal Writing Program. She also has volunteered for Wolverine Street Law—providing mentorship and teaching mini legal lessons to children at a local community center—and has been involved with several student organizations.
“The Law School is committed to helping students get what they want out of their time here—not just the academics, but the totality of the experience,” says Hilligoss. “I really appreciate that.”
She also appreciates the donors who have helped make it possible. “Creating this scholarship without any means of recognition speaks volumes to their passion for the University and their desire to help students."
