Jackson J. Butler
Class of 2017, WVU College of Law
Photo
by WVU
College
of Law.
BY MAGGIE MATSKO. A native
of Oklahoma City, OK, Jack-
son Butler had never visited the
campus of West Virginia Univer-
sity (WVU) prior to packing up
his car and moving to Morgan-
town. Not a day passes, though,
that he isn’t reassured that enroll-
ing in the WVU College of Law
was the right decision for him.
After receiving his under-
graduate degrees, Butler spent
several years working in a
variety of fields before deciding
to attend law school.
“Working in those fields
helped me understand the signif-
icance of law and how it dictates
the framework of society,” he
says. “I quickly realized not only
that those who are versed in the
law wield a powerful tool but
that I needed to become one of
those versed people.”
Butler’s time spent in Morgan-
town was most notably marked
by his service as president of
the Student Bar Association
(SBA). In this role, he acted as
the liaison between the student
body and school administration.
“I saw SBA as a way to be
involved with all facets of the
school,” he says. “It was an op-
portunity to help shape my own
environment rather than just have
it shape me, to help improve
things at the law school and to
immerse myself in the culture.”
Under Butler’s direction, the
SBA held several fundraisers to
support local organizations. They
organized a 5k that raised more
than $1,000 for the Rape and
Domestic Violence Information
Center; a toy drive for families
impacted by last year’s flood; a
blood drive for the American
Red Cross; and the first annual
WVU College of Law Alumni
Golf Scramble, which benefited
Legal Aid of West Virginia.
Elizabeth Stryker
Class of 2017, WVU College of Law
Photo
by Tatsu
Johnson.
BY MAGGIE MATSKO. When
Elizabeth Stryker graduated
with her bachelor’s degree
from West Virginia Univer-
sity (WVU), she accepted a
banking position in Columbus,
Ohio, intentionally distancing
herself from the possibility of
following her parents into the
field of law. “It was during that
time at the bank that I realized
I was looking for something
more,” she says. “Both of my
parents are lawyers, and they’ve
always suggested that I become
a lawyer too. After years of
protest, I finally realized they
were right, and I enrolled.”
Stryker returned to Mor-
gantown as a nontraditional
student, which required