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Matthew Whitlock, '17, is the first alumnus to take advantage of Renmin University of China Law School's scholarship for IU McKinney graduates who want to pursue a Master of Laws degree in Chinese Law. Renmin created the scholarship, known as the Bilateral Chinese Government Scholarship, in 2017 to commemorate the longstanding cooperation and friendship between Renmin and IU McKinney. (In the photo at left, Whitlock is outside Renmin.)

Graduating from Ball State University with a degree in public relations and a minor in political science, Whitlock had always wanted to attend law school, but wanted to take a brief break from academics first. He worked for two years as a leadership and risk management consultant for his college fraternity, and was based in Lexington, Kentucky. The nonprofit provides coordination and programming for more than 8,000 members, and he traveled 270 days annually, visiting 38 states while working for the organization.

The job gave him the travel bug, he said, and he wanted to attend law school in Indiana in order to be close to family and friends one more time before embarking on a career that he hoped would take him far afield. Whitlock said he wanted to be a lawyer from his elementary school days. He points to cases like Gideon v. Wainwright, Brown v. Board of Education, and Obergefell, and notes the huge impact those decisions have had on the lives of everyday people. Deciding which law school to attend was easy, Whitlock said. "The ability to facilitate that change, and do it through intellect, is as close to a superpower as I know that exists in real life. IU McKinney captured that sense of wonder and communicated it well during the application and admissions process. I felt as if I was joining a school that appreciated the power of the lawyer in daily life."

While at IU McKinney, Whitlock took part in an externship with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, and was involved with the Lambda Law Society, the Diplomacy Lab Project in collaboration with the Department of State, the Dean's Tutorial Society, and the Wilhem C. Vis Moot Court team.

Whitlock wouldn't change anything about his law school experience that led him to move to China to continue his legal education, yet "if you had told me on my first day of classes as a 1L that I would be living in China after law school, I wouldn't have believed you," he said.

Taking part in IU McKinney's Chinese Law Summer Program (CLSP) is something most students do early in their law school experience. Students contemplating graduation and the need to embark upon a career are typically aiming for a summer experience going into their last year of law school that will ease that pathway. Whitlock took part in the CLSP in the summer prior to his 3L year. He'd been encouraged to apply after an IU McKinney classmate talked about his experiences in the program.

"I fell in love with China, and was fascinated by the relationship between the U.S. and the Middle Kingdom," Whitlock said. His partner majored in Chinese as an undergraduate student, and the pair wanted to live and work in China after Whitlock completed law school. "I gained a sense of confidence from the CLSP in that I felt like we could make a life in China after graduation." (In the photo at left, Whitlock is visiting the Great Wall of China.)

Whitlock found the classes he took at Renmin as part of the CLSP to be interesting and a complement to the culture students in the program experience outside the classroom.

"As China takes on a bigger role on the international stage, I believe it is critical to understand how they see law playing a role in that pursuit," Whitlock said. "Renmin is a perfect place to learn about that. Receiving the scholarship was the key to making my study in Beijing happen. Without this funding, I would not be able to make it to China, as students are not able to work while on their student visas. The scholarship provided me with the security of knowing that the move was going to happen -- a dream achieved and fulfilled."

Whitlock passed the bar exam in New York state, and plans are for his swearing in to take place in Spring 2018. He hopes to stay in China for a few years at least after completing his LL.M. studies at Renmin. His goal is to work in international commercial arbitration in Shanghai or Hong Kong.