LSU law students with the Student Bar Association organized a charity open-mic night Wednesday at the Roux House to raise funds for communities affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The SBA is a student-run group of law students in charge of allocating student funds and organizing events. Graham Ryan, a third-year law student and SBA executive vice president, said he wanted to contribute to the oil spill relief effort and started a Facebook page called “Louisiana Students for Oil Spill Relief” to promote activism for the oil spill.
Ryan then suggested an oil spill relief fundraiser to the SBA as a way to become more involved in community outreach.
“We’re all affected because we’re all Louisiana residents,” Ryan said.
Students gathered at the Roux House downtown to have drinks, listen to music and contribute to the cause. Musicians at the event played songs ranging from bands like Nirvana, Sublime to “The Hangover’s” Zach Galifianakis.
Third-year law student Amanda Russell said law students frequently try to promote gatherings like the oil spill fundraiser to build bonds and become more like a family.
  Video: SBA Open Mic Night
 
The Roux House donated the space for the event, and SBA
students volunteered to help coordinate the fundraiser.
Law students paid $5 at the door and, according to Ryan, all funds raised at the event will go to the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund.
Josephine Everly, the development officer of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, said the donated money will go toward workforce development and seafood marketing to rebuild the affected communities.
Everly said $1.1 million has been raised so far for the oil spill relief effort by the Greater New Orleans Foundation.
Ryan said he felt people were forgetting the extent of the oil spill and that the fundraiser was a way to make sure people wouldn’t forget about the more than 200 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf or the Gulf Coast residents who lost their jobs.
Taylor Bassett, a third-year law student who performed songs by Aaliyah and Spin Doctors at the event, said a lot of people care at the Law Center because there is a lot of environmental law study.
“We drink a lot anyway, and it’s good to put it to good use,” said Jackson Carney, a second-year law student.
 
 
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Contact Kevin Thibodeaux at [email protected]