Fall 2015

Michigan law student standing with individual letters that spell out: Thank you.

Impact

3L Challenge Celebrates 20 Years

Twenty years ago, the Law School faced two problems: declining state funding and a declining percentage of recent graduates who were becoming donors to the Law School. 

So John Nannes, ’73, came up with an idea: He would donate $250 to any Law School organization or activity that a 3L student chose, if the student agreed to make a gift to the Law School in each of the first three years after graduation. 

“I wanted students to see the importance of alumni support while they were still in school, in the hope that they would develop a culture of giving back to the Law School after they left,” says Nannes.

 

Private support impacts everything at the Law School, and the 3L Challenge is a great way to plant a seed in students’ minds about giving back in the future.

Dayna Chikamoto, 2015-2016 3L Challenge Co-Chair

In 2006, recognizing the effectiveness of peer-to-peer marketing, a student-led committee was formed to increase Challenge participation, and a new committee is formed each year. 

This has spurred a friendly sense of competition among student orgs, and unleashed creative themes that included 2008 election parallels (“Vote Nannes”) and 2014’s “Bananas for Nannes” rhyme scheme. “Giving rates for recent classes are up because of the efforts of the student committees,” says Nannes.

Besides its immediate impact on student organizations and activities, the Challenge helps ensure the future strength of the Law School. 

“I got involved because I recognized what those who came before me did to make [my Law School experience] what it was,” says Matt Nolan, ’06, who chaired 2006’s original student committee. “Many of us have student loans to repay, but that’s not a substitute for giving back.” 

Nannes, who currently chairs the Law School’s Victors for Michigan campaign, admits to some surprise at the Challenge’s impact. 

“We hoped the Challenge would encourage students to contribute to the Law School as alums,” he says, “but the benefits have exceeded that. 

The Challenge has built a sense of camaraderie and common purpose across student groups that may be unique to Michigan.”

In 2009, Nannes endowed the 3L Challenge to ensure that it will remain a permanent fixture of the Law School. —BS

3L Challenge at a Glance

2,951

Students Have Taken the 3L Challenge

$1.3 M

Gifts from Challenge Participants as Alumni

65

student orgs received funding from the challenge last year

30.7%

Recent Grad Giving Rate (Classes of 2012-2014)

9.3%

University-wide Giving Rate for those same classes

More From This Issue

Image for: So You Want to Work in Entertainment Law?

Fall 2015 Cover Story

So You Want to Work in Entertainment Law?

As nearly anyone who works in entertainment law will tell you, there is no such thing as "entertainment law." Or, rather, many legal fields comprise entertainment law, and a diverse skillset is needed to achieve success. 
China on Broadway group photo

Fall 2015 Features

Broadway in China, and China on Broadway

Fifteen years ago, Robert Nederlander Jr., ’89, began exploring opportunities to take Broadway shows to China—something that had never been done at that time. Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, of which he is president and CEO, would go on to fulfill that promise by becoming the first foreign entity allowed to form a joint venture and operate in the Chinese performing arts industry.
A woman with a Michigan hat and a turtleneck stands arm-in-arm with a man in a blazer.

Fall 2015 Impact

John Nickoll, ’60: Darrow Scholarship Endowment

John Nickoll, ’60, and his wife, Patty, of Los Angeles, have made a $1 million gift to the Law School to endow a Darrow Scholarship—which is given to a very select group of Michigan Law’s most accomplished admitted students and can cover as much as full tuition plus a stipend. 

Related Reading

Marc Howze smiling in front of plant

Winter 2019 In Practice

Marc Howze, ’95: Steering Deere & Company

Nothing Runs Like a Deere. The tagline that originated in the 1970s—first with John Deere-made snowmobiles—has since become iconic. It’s also a phrase that could aptly describe the career of Marc Howze, ’95, Deere & Company’s senior vice president and chief administrative officer.
James J. White

Spring 2021 Impact

Legendary Professor Inspires Scholarship in His Honor

For almost five decades, Professor James J. White, ’62, has been one of Michigan Law’s most revered professors, challenging and inspiring thousands of students in and out of the classroom. Today, he remains a beloved figure in the Quad, and the Professor James J. White Scholarship Fund has been established in his honor by several dedicated alumni. 
Carolyn Frantz speaking at Latham’s Leading Women Series

Spring/Summer 2018 @UMICHLAW

Latham’s Leading Women Series Kicks Off with Microsoft VP Carolyn Frantz, ’00

“When I attended Michigan, I didn’t join the Women Law Students Association because I was adamant that I was a law student, not a woman law student,” said Carolyn Frantz, ’00, who is vice president, deputy general counsel, and corporate secretary at Microsoft Corp.