More than $80,000 raised for Summer Public Interest Funding at annual auction

Where can you pick up a lunch with Larry Summers, a fashion-forward shopping spree with a Harvard Law School professor or a Justice David Souter bobblehead? The HLS annual Public Interest Auction, of course.

These were just a few of the items auctioned with the help of HLS professors—and auctioneers for the evening—Robert Sitkoff and Jonathan Zittrain at the 19th annual Public Interest Auction, “Carnival on the Charles: Bids for Beads,” on April 5. The event also featured a silent auction, offering an array of services and items including juggling lessons, Red Sox tickets and a day of indentured servitude from the editor of the Harvard Law Review.

More than 400 first-year law students volunteered thousands of hours to solicit donations, catalogue items and make papier mâché masks. The event raised over $80,000 for Summer Public Interest Funding (SPIF). Since 1994, the Auction has helped support SPIF for first year Harvard Law students, providing opportunities for students to pursue careers working in public interest. Last year SPIF awarded approximately $2.26 million to 519 students working in 39 countries, 34 states and the District of Columbia.