News Archive

Graduating IU McKinney students selected four of their classmates for the honor of addressing their peers during commencement. Brief remarks will be offered by each student in the IU McKinney Online Graduation Celebration video, and these speakers will address graduates during a traditional ceremony that will take place later.

Dario Jesus Pardo Salazar will speak on behalf of the Master of Laws students. He is an attorney from Columbia, where he worked primarily as a commercial and corporate attorney in a variety of industry sectors, including oil and gas, chemicals, textiles, international commerce, e-commerce, and consumer law. He elected to pursue the International and Comparative Law track for his Master of Laws degree at IU McKinney in order to apply his newly acquired skills to his work at home in Columbia. His goal is to become knowledgeable in international trade law and transactions in order to help companies make better deals in the public and private sectors.

Keva Rop will speak for the Master of Jurisprudence students. She serves as the Assistant Director of Finance in the Department of Medicine for Indiana University School of Medicine. She has carried on her family’s legacy of commitment to non- profit work, focusing on business management in the higher education and not for profit sectors. Her international travels include South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe, including a study abroad experience at Oxford University in Oxford, England. She has taught on the topic of finance and human resources in various IUPUI departments, along with local and national events. She was a member of the inaugural cohort of Next Generation 2.0 in 2015-16 and serves as a member of the advisory board.

Riley Parr will speak on behalf of the Doctor of Jurisprudence, Part-time Division. He graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington and spent a year as a Governor’s Fellow before enrolling in McKinney’s evening program. During his time as a student, he worked for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, clerked for two local solo practitioners, externed for Boone Superior Court I Judge Matt Kincaid, and worked as a writing assistant for Professor Dimitri and a research assistant to former Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard. He also served in several leadership positions within the school, including as Executive Notes Editor of Volume 52 of the Indiana Law Review, Assistant Chief Justice of Problem Writing and CLE of the Staton Moot Court Competition, a DTS LCA tutor, and as Chair of both the Indianapolis Bar Association Law Student Division and the Federalist Society. In addition, he participated in the Appellate Clinic.

Aleksandar Djuricic will speak on behalf of the Doctor of Jurisprudence, Full-time Division. A Serbian American from Croatia, he immigrated with his parents to the Chicagoland area. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science with a minor in professional writing from DePaul University and a post-baccalaureate certificate in paralegal studies from Roosevelt University. In 2017, he moved to Indianapolis for law school at IU McKinney, where he also received a Graduate Certificate in Health Law. He served as an Associate Editor and Student Note Candidate for the Indiana Law Review, a mentor-advocate in the REACH program, Vice-Magister of the Phi Delta Phi Willkie Inn international legal honor society, Treasurer of SCRAP, board member for the IndyBar Law Student Division, and IU McKinney Student Ambassador. He founded and is the current president of a non-profit organization, the Serbian American Leadership Conference. The organization aims to inspire future generations of Serbian Americans to become civically engaged.