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An Indiana native who wanted to attend law school and make his home here, Andrew Stutz, J.D. ’20, began his legal education at Valparaiso Law School. Stutz has family in Indianapolis and transferred to IU McKinney in August 2018. Not only did Stutz have family in Indianapolis, he also was able to take advantage of the law school’s wide-ranging, hands-on opportunities.

“Experiential learning at IU McKinney is wonderful,” Stutz said.

A tennis player during his time at North Central High School and Ball State University, Stutz was drawn to IU McKinney’s sports-related externships. He completed externships with the NCAA, Horizon League, and was in the middle of an externship with IU Athletics during his last semester of law school when the COVID-19 pandemic brought everything to an abrupt halt.

“All through law school I did athletics compliance and really liked it,” Stutz said. “I thought I’d turn that IU Athletics internship into a job. Then the pandemic happened and sports weren’t a thing.”

Recognizing his hopes of working in collegiate athletics were at least going to be put on hold for a while, Stutz said he began to think about the other law school classes he enjoyed. He recalled the courses on civil rights and sexual harassment and how engaged he’d been with those subjects. That led Stutz to accept a job as a civil rights specialist with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, a post he held for over a year. Iowa made him homesick for the Hoosier state, so when his current job at Butler University became available, he applied. Now Stutz is assistant dean of students/investigator, and he also serves as a volunteer assistant men’s tennis coach.

In addition, Stutz is teaching in a Title IX clinic at IU McKinney where law students will serve as Title IX advisors. The new venture will help law students gain valuable experience advising and advocating for individuals, and offer highly trained advisors for Butler students, faculty, and staff going through the Title IX process, he said. The number of people qualified to advise those going through the Title IX process has dwindled as the need increases, Stutz said. His goal for the clinic is to offer the services of the law students to Indianapolis-area schools.

Stutz says he benefitted tremendously from IU McKinney’s experiential learning opportunities, and now he’s helping to make those opportunities happen for students.