Marc Kilani ‘22
Interviewed by Will McDermott ‘22
Where are you from?
Well, that’s always been a hard question to answer, but at this point in my life I claim that I’m from New York City. I was born and raised in NYC until I was 9, when my parents divorced, and then moved to Arkansas with my mom. I always spent summers and holidays in NYC with my dad, and then I finally moved back for grad school, so all in all, I’ve spent the biggest chunk of my life in the City, and I’ll be headed back next year.
When did you start thinking about law school?
Ha, that’s a long story. When I first started undergrad (back in the Stone Age), I was actually very interested in law, politics, and international relations and planned to have some kind of career in that area. However, in the course of studying the underlying theories, I became super fascinated with philosophy and ended up feeling the need to go all the way down the rabbit hole. I went to grad school for philosophy and ended up working as a professor for 8 years. At some point in there, I sort of exhausted my interest in abstract theoretical questions and found myself returning to more practical concerns like economics and politics (and maybe a better wage than a philosophy professor). So law school just seemed like a natural path for me.
What student orgs have you been involved with at UVA Law?
When I got here, I didn’t know the first thing about business, finance, or economics, but I knew I wanted to learn these things, so I leaned in pretty hard to Rivanna Investments. I was really intimidated coming in, knowing that many of my colleagues would be business or finance majors, but Rivanna was so welcoming and really made me feel like I could pick up the concepts and language I needed. I’m now the Chief Investment Officer and I’m thrilled to see the huge 1L interest in Rivanna, and very proud of the 2L leadership team that weathered investment club Zoom meetings during COVID.
As a 2L, I was VP of MENA – the Middle Eastern and North African Law Student Association – the sheer existence of which is really meaningful to me. My dad is a Palestinian refugee, and one of the things that I really appreciate about UVA Law is its recognition of Middle Eastern and North African ethnic and cultural identities. For most of my life, those “check the box” ethnicity questionnaires have never included this option, so it was a pleasant surprise to see this on the application to UVA Law and to have a group of colleagues with similar cultural heritage and experiences.
How are you making the most of 3L after COVID?
You know, it's kind of a truism around here that UVA Law is the most collegial law school – but as a 1L I really felt this to be true. COVID unfortunately forced us all apart and into our various bubbles and groups of 5 that we were allowed to hang out with. I’m really excited to be back on campus, running into friends in ScoCo and reconnecting, meeting new students, playing tons of softball, and just in general trying to do my part to bring back that culture of collegiality and inclusion. I’m also stoked to be bringing the Law School band tradition back with Torts Illustrated, and really looking forward to our first show!
Lightning Round!
Favorite place to eat in Cville? Definitely Alley Light.
What do you do to de-stress? I love tennis, watching and playing (though I’m not very good). Go Roger!
Favorite Movie or TV Show? Right now I’m obsessed with The White Lotus, I’ve already binged it 3 times.
Favorite Professor? Mitchell, highly recommend.
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mak4ch@virginia.edu