Why I Give: Clara Ohr ’98

Clara Ohr considered careers in law, diplomacy, and concert piano. The decision to go with law came when her father was faced with workplace discrimination.

“The situation blindsided my parents,” she recalls.

As it happened, Ohr had worked for an attorney while she was in college, and he gave her parents a referral. “After one conversation, they were in a completely different mental and emotional place,” Ohr says. “The immediate positive effect a lawyer could have on them made a deep impression on me.”

Ohr chose the Law School in part because she received financial aid, and now she donates to give others that opportunity. She initially divided her giving between diversity programs and the international exchange program, but she now focuses on diversity.

“When I moved to Washington, D.C., I really became aware of implicit bias and racial and ethnic discrimination,” Ohr said. She made a six-year pledge to diversity scholarships that takes advantage of matching funds from an anonymous donor. That fund is available for five years; Ohr added a year to loop in her class gift. She would like to see an increase in diversity in the Law School’s student body.