Alumnus no stranger to leading student government

(Jan. 27, 2020)
Alumnus no stranger to leading student government

McConnell Scholar alumni Aaron Vance ('17) and Hannah Wilson ('17) are both students at Indiana University's Maurer School of Law.

Aaron Vance, a 2017 graduate of the McConnell Scholars Program, is no stranger to leading student government.

A native of Vine Grove, Ky., Vance served as president of his class for three years at North Hardin High School, was elected student body president at the University of Louisville and is currently the president of the Indiana University student bar association.

As SBA president at IU’s Maurer School of Law, Vance helps develop and implement a robust student advocacy agenda. He is a third-year Lumina Law Scholar and serves as managing editor of the Indiana Law Journal.

He credits his experience at the McConnell Center with helping broaden his leadership approach and perspective in law school.

“Being able to think like adverse counsel, formulate the case from the other side and to even empathize with the adverse party all began with the critical discussions and lectures we had in the McConnell Center,” Vance said. 

He said he never imagined an interest in labor and employment law as a high school student but took—and enjoyed—an elective law class on the subject. As a result, he encourages students to “be ready to try many, new different things.”

“That one class has now developed into a passion for labor and employment law and a future career,” he said. 

Vance plans to return to Louisville upon graduation and work with Dinsmore and Shohl LLP as an associate in the labor and employment practice group.