Jackie Macaulay Auction funds summer internships and summer associate positions for students.
Jackie Macaulay ’83 was a woman who wasn’t afraid to go against the grain, whether standing up for others during the civil rights movement, graduating from University of Wisconsin Law School at the age of 50 or taking civil liberties claims for the ACLU. Therefore, it’s fitting that the Jackie Macaulay Auction, which funds summer internships and associate positions for students interested in the often less financially rewarding areas of women’s issues and public interest work, is named for her.
“And that’s why the auction is so important,” said Emily Kite, associate dean for Career and Professional Development at the Law School. “While some law students in summer positions might be making a larger amount of money to help with expenses or loans, these areas aren’t like that, and internships are often unpaid.”
All profits from the auction support the Public Interest Law Fellowship Fund, which allows more student access to doing public interest work, government work and work focusing on women’s issues.
“If you don’t take on these kinds of summer positions, you are losing an opportunity to build connections and experiences, sometimes at places you hope one day will hire you,” Kite continued. “Our school has a strong history when it comes to these areas, and this is one more way to encourage it.”
Between the Jackie Macaulay Auction — now in its 12th year — private donor funding and Law School-sponsored funding, Kite estimates that more than 60 students were able to do public interest and government work over the Summer of 2024.
The Birth of the Event Planners
The auction didn’t just begin with students being the recipients. Instead, they led the charge and continue to do so today.
“It was an immense challenge because none of us had done it before,” said Colin McGinn ’14, who was instrumental in getting the inaugural Jackie Macaulay Auction off the ground, participating during his final year of law school. “It started with a discussion in the spring of my second year, and in the fall, it was confirmed that we wanted to create a formal auction event. And some of us were, you could say, magically transformed into part-time event planners.”
From hiring an auctioneer to courting sponsors, there was no precedent — just a hope that this could be a litmus test for a successful formal auction fundraiser for years to come.
“We were trying to get local nonprofits, firms, people working in the prosecutor’s office and others in and outside city government,” he recalled. “We hit Willy Street and State Street. I had worked at the Nitty Gritty for years, both as a kitchen manager and later as a bartender, and I was able to get them to donate. It was really a lesson in connections. With law firms, it couldn’t just be an email. It was setting up calls, pitching them in a convincing manner and then following up.”
If they needed any more incentive, Professor Stewart Macaulay, who pioneered the study of business practices and the work of lawyers related to the questions of contract law, certainly provided it. Stewart and Jackie were married on March 20, 1954, and remained so until her death on Jan. 2, 2000.
“Professor (Stewart) Macaulay was a legend,” said McGinn. “He not only encouraged us with the auction, but he shared a reflection on his marriage to Jackie and their partnership, her career and her life of service.”
There wasn’t a dry eye in the room, he continued.
“You hope someone will speak about you someday the way he spoke about Jackie,” McGinn added. “It made me sad that I never had the chance to meet her because she sounded like an incredibly special person. It also motivated us that much more.”
In the end, the auction, held April 11, 2014, would be a touchstone, with items including tickets to events, gift cards and even a signed basketball from then-University of Wisconsin Men’s Basketball Coach Bo Ryan, ensuring it was a rousing success.
(McGinn won the signed basketball, for those wondering.)
“Seeing the smiles on so many faces was a great feeling,” said McGinn. “A good deal of money was raised, and we felt we had made the case for the auction. But it wasn’t just financial support; we really saw how many ways people wanted to support this kind of work. It was students and professors and so many from the legal community coming together, having fun and just appreciating each other. The turnout, the sense of community; I think so many admired the roads students were considering and wanted to give us encouragement.”
The More Things Change…
McGinn and his fellow law students may have been laying the groundwork, but each auction team bears the responsibility of keeping it going. The annual event is organized by the Wisconsin Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) and the Women’s Law Student Association (WLSA). The 11th year team certainly did its part, raising roughly $32,000.
“It set the bar high with a Roaring Twenties, Old Hollywood theme,” said 2025 auction co-chair Meg Cavanaugh 2L, representing WLSA.
So, what did the auction planning look like for this year’s event, which took place on March 8?
“We selected from 50 student volunteers to form committees, so we had students working on technology, securing donations for items to be auctioned off, contacting local sponsors, creating communications for the event and, of course, planning the actual event itself. It’s a lot of coordination between the groups,” Cavanaugh said.
Marne Boehm 2L, the other co-chair, representing PILF, which Jackie helped co-found, worked alongside Cavanaugh to facilitate the auction planning.
“We also worked on getting in contact with someone from the legal community (doing public interest work) to do an address at the event and got in contact with scholarship recipients to get a testimony on what it meant to them,” Boehm added.
While the theme may change from year to year (this year’s was disco), many things remain the same: Each event features silent and in-person auctions, keynote speeches and the always-popular wine bottle ring toss, just to name a few.
Also remaining consistent is the spirit of camaraderie the auction sparks among the UW Law community.
“For example, Professor Amanda White Eagle ’05 auctioned off a chance to do axe throwing with her,” Cavanaugh said. “Another professor experience involved pickleball. That is a big part of this; how professors give of their time and offer experiences with them. It really illustrates how everyone wants to help.”
An Early Look at Interests
Of course, beyond the glare of the disco ball and the hustle (’70s dance pun intended), there is another experience that may be overlooked: the networking opportunity of the event itself.
“In addition to being a fun time where we do a lot of fundraising, with so many community members present, we get the chance to mingle and learn about what different people do in these legal areas and find out why they enjoy doing it,” Cavanaugh said.
Both of this year’s co-chairs understand the value of the opportunities offered by the auction proceeds. Cavanaugh is already getting an inside look as an intern at the U.S. Attorney’s Office on the prosecutor side. Boehm was also a past scholarship recipient, having interned at the Dane County Courthouse last summer.
And McGinn? You may recognize his name as assistant state public defender in Milwaukee, his father before him also having served in a public defender role.
“Events like the auction are incredibly important to expose people to jobs they might not know about,” McGinn explained. “Public interest jobs won’t land you the financial rewards of other areas of law, but you are serving the people and it’s a very gratifying way to spend your career. I go to work feeling I can make a difference, and I feel so fortunate to do it.”
By Eric Butterman
An Honor for Jackie, More Assistance for Students
The newly created Jackie Macaulay Fellowship Fund is slated to begin helping law students this summer. It was established by Stewart Macaulay, Jackie’s husband and emeritus professor at UW Law, in memory of his late wife. The fellowship will be awarded to two students each year at a minimum level of $5,000 to support them in summer internships and summer associate unpaid public interest positions.
With Jackie’s interests in mind, preference will be given to students with an interest in gender equality, reproductive rights or adoption law and those with an interest in representing people with limited resources.
Emeritus Professor Howard “Howie” Erlanger, who still teaches at the Law School, is serving as the adviser for Stewart when it comes to his gift.
“It is a way for him to both honor Jackie, who was such an important member of our community, and also support students in areas she was so passionate about,” Erlanger said. “Stewart cares so much for the law students and the future of the Law School and is honored to play a role in helping in this way.”