Nicholle Vandy, a rising 3L from Knox, Ind., has become the first Indiana University Maurer School of Law student to earn top honors at the American University Washington College of Law National Health Writing Competition.
Vandy’s paper, “True Man, Captive Mother: Abortion as a Fundamental Self-Defense Right,” was named the winning entry of the 10th annual competition, which encourages law students from across the country to write scholarly papers on current topics of interest relevant to health, food, and/or drug law.
For the Law School, Vandy’s award is the latest evidence the school is emerging as a health law leader. Professor Jennifer D. Oliva was elected to the American Law Institute last fall and served as the 2023 Chair of the American Association of Law School’s Section on Law, Medicine, and Health Care. She currently serves as the 2025 Chair of the AALS Section on Biolaw.
“We are so proud of Nicholle,” said Oliva, one of Vandy’s instructors. “She worked diligently throughout the entire 2024-25 academic year to submit an outstanding paper to this competition. The AUWCL National Health Writing Competition is one of the most competitive in the country, with entries every year from 2L, 3L, part-time, and LLM students from around the U.S. It is a tremendous source of pride for the Law School to claim this year’s winner.”
Vandy developed the paper as part of Professor Luis Fuentes-Rohwer’s seminar on the Fourteenth Amendment, with Oliva encouraging her to enter it into the competition.
The honor comes with a $1,500 cash prize, sponsored by AUWCL alumni.
“Congratulations on this outstanding achievement,” members of the AUWCL Health Law and Policy Program wrote. “We’re thrilled to recognize your work.”
It is the second national honor for Vandy this spring. In April she was named an American Constitution Society Next Generation Fellow. She is interested in pursuing a career in public interest law after law school and is working as an intern this summer with the Capital Habeas Unit for the Western District of Missouri’s Federal Defender Office.
Vandy also serves as executive articles editor for the Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality and is involved in the Law School’s Protective Order Project and First Generation Law Association. She was a quarterfinalist in this year’s Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition, where she also earned oral advocacy honors.