Two Decades of Experiences and Support Fuel Giving

Raqiyyah Pippins ’06 has supported the Law School for 18 consecutive years, starting with her participation in the Class of 2006 Graduation Pledge Campaign. She does so because the support of others helped her decide to attend UVA Law and later serve as chair of the National Black Law Students Association.

Reflecting on her experiences with the Law School over nearly two decades, she decided to create an unrestricted endowment, trusting that the school will use her gift where it is most needed.

An unrestricted endowment appealed to Pippins on two levels. “Sometimes restricted funds cannot be used because the restrictions, unintentionally, tie the University’s hands behind its back,” she said. Also, “while my endowment is not huge, it will gain power when pooled with other contributions.”

As an undergraduate at Stanford University, Pippins attended a law school fair and met Jerome “Jerry” Stokes, then UVA Law’s senior assistant dean and director of admissions and financial aid. Having spent most of her life in Hampton, Virginia, Pippins thought she would eventually head back to the East Coast, and Stokes’s description of the Law School reminded her of home. She interviewed over the semester break and found Charlottesville to her liking.

The offer of scholarship support sealed her decision to attend. While a student, Pippins received scholarships funded by McGuire Woods and Womble Carlyle. She also received one initiated more than 40 years ago by Robert Nusbaum ’48 and named in honor of Alan J. Hofheimer 1925, leader of the Norfolk-based Hofheimer, Nusbaum, McPhaul & Brenner. “Previous UVA Law alumni created an endowment hoping to help people from the Tidewater area,” she said. “To be honest, that helped inform my commitment to the school.”

Pippins knew she had made the right choice when, as a 1L, she was elected the mid-Atlantic regional director of the National Black Law Students Association. The role came with a leadership position on the regional and national boards for the organization.

She did not know that NBLSA officers’ schools were expected to sponsor association meetings. She, and fellow classmate and board member Roshida Dowe, went to then Dean John C. Jeffries Jr. ’73 for help. He directed them to Law School Foundation President and CEO Luis Alvarez ’88. “Lu found an anonymous donor who sponsored us,” Pippins said. Pippins went on to be elected national chair of NBLSA the following year. “Even with only 20 or 22 Black students in our class, the Law School supported BLSA and NBLSA initiatives, helping us to find community and mentorship.” She realized then that alumni remain very engaged with the Law School. “I wanted to be a part of that process,” she said.

A partner with Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer in Washington, D.C., Pippins co-leads the firm’s Consumer Products Practice Group and the Consumer Products and Retail Industry Team. She still makes time to be a dedicated alumni volunteer, including organizing UVA BLSA’s D.C. Roadshow annually. Throughout the years, she has served on the Dean’s Council, the Alumni Council, and as a fundraising and recruiting volunteer. This year, she is the second vice president of the school’s Alumni Council.

It may have been the promise of a scholarship that brought Pippins to UVA Law, but it is faith in its community that keeps her involved. “I can’t think of another place so full of really brilliant people who also value connection and community,” she said.