News Archive

At its annual dinner and conference on October 9th in Indianapolis, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union (ICLU) announced the winners of its annual awards for service in the defense of civil liberties. Two of this year’s winners have ties to the law school.

Richard Waples, ’84, a partner at Waples & Hanger in Indianapolis, won the William Marsh Award. The award recognizes exceptional lifetime contributions to enforcement of the laws that protect our civil liberties.

This award is named for former IU School of Law – Indianapolis Professor Bill Marsh, who established the school’s clinical law program over 20 years ago. Marsh is currently the public defender for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and an adjunct professor at the school.

1L Elizabeth Obergfell (pictured above with Hamid Kashani, the president of the ICLU Board of Directors) won the Student Patriot Award for being a student activist who makes a significant contribution to the advancement of civil liberties. She holds a B.A. in Social Work from the University of Southern Indiana and an M.P.A. from IU - Indianapolis. Obergfell says Professor Sheila Kennedy’s Law and Public Affairs class inspired her to pursue an internship with the ICLU. Kennedy is a 1975 graduate of the IU School of Law – Indianapolis and a former president of the ICLU. Obergfell was president and founder of the ICLU Student Chapter at IUPUI and has been involved with the law school’s ICLU chapter as well. She is dedicated to civil liberties and social justice, as well as her campus. Obergfell volunteers for the Legal Aid Society and as the IUPUI Jaguar!