Hyatt Student Activities Fund

Each year, student organizations are encouraged to apply for the Hyatt Student Activities Fund. A select number of organization events are chosen to work with the Director of Student Affairs to put on high-profile events addressing current legal issues of interest to the student body. The fund was endowed by Wayne S. Hyatt '68 (BA'65) and his late wife, Amanda M. Hyatt (BA'67, MA'74), to support student-initiated programs that enrich the intellectual content of student activities at Vanderbilt University Law School.

Previous Hyatt Fund Events

Love Wins: An Open Conversation with Jim Obergefell

During the event, entitled “Love Wins – An Open Conversation with Jim Obergefell”, he narrated the love story that would ultimately lead to Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), the landmark Supreme Court case that made same-sex marriage legal nationwide. 

Read our Event Recap
  • Litigation Strategies for Civil Rights Prosecution

    A discussion of the litigation strategies involved in the trial of the final defendant charged with the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama—a pivotal event in the civil rights struggle and the most deadly single act of the entire civil rights era. Presenter Don Cochran—current U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and former Assistant U.S. Attorney in Birmingham, Alabama—was one of the prosecutors tasked with bringing Bobby Frank Cherry to justice nearly 39 years after the bombing. AUSA Henry Leventis will be introducing Mr. Cochran with a brief overview of modern civil rights litigation. Lunch will be provided.

  • Gentrification & Affordable Housing: Exploring Nashville's Growth

    An evening reception discussing Nashville's growth. Representatives from local community organizations engaged the Vanderbilt and Nashville communities in discussing the role of gentrification and affordable housing in Nashville's future. Participants included Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH), MiKen Development, The Barnes Housing Trust, Chamber of Commerce, Walk Bike Nashville, the Office of State Representative John Ray Clemmons, and many more. 

  • Gentrification & Urban Housing: The Legal Dimension

    A lunch panel discussing Nashville's growth. Professor Audrey McFarlane from University of Baltimore School of Law joined Phil Manz, who chairs the Affordable Housing Task Force of Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH) and Michael Kenner with MiKen Development to discuss the impacts of gentrification and urban housing on Nashville's future growth. Professor Chris Serkin moderated. 

About Wayne S. & Amanda G. Hyatt

A leading lawyer who specialized in representing master-planned communities and their developers, Wayne S. Hyatt (retired) is co-founder of Hyatt & Stubblefield, an Atlanta-based law firm. He is the author of 12 leading books on legal issues relating to planned communities, condominium association law and community associations throughout his career. His practice extended beyond property law into the field of local government through private neighborhood associations, addressing issues such as representative government, rights and responsibilities of neighbors, freedom of expression, and the environment. Hyatt has taught as an adjunct faculty member at the Vanderbilt, Emory and University of Georgia law schools. He was named a distinguished alumnus of Vanderbilt Law School in 2003 and received the Law School's distinguished service award in 1996.

Before her death in 2001, Amanda G. Hyatt — who earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics at Vanderbilt — spent 25 years in public service, serving as chair of the Governor's Welfare Reform Task Force for the state of Georgia, the Council for Competitive Georgia and the Georgia Council on Vocational Education. She was a founder of the Regional Leadership Institute, represented Douglas County, Ga., on the Atlanta Regional Commission, and helped to develop the Douglas County campus of the Carroll Technical Institute.