LOS ANGELES – Once a year, law professor Moraima “Mo” Ivory usually brings celebrities like Steve Harvey, Ludacris, and Rick Ross into his classroom at Georgia State University for some legal entertainment talk. But this time, she will take her next class across the Atlantic Ocean, from Atlanta to the Paris Olympics.
Ivory and her law students will head to the Summer Olympics in late July for an all-expenses-paid, week-long trip, funded primarily by a grant from Delta Airlines. Students on the Legal Life course will study the commercial and legal issues related to the Olympics.
“We usually have celebrities, but I wanted to get into sports,” said Ivory, director of the school’s entertainment, sports and media law program, which she started in 2019. “I thought it would be interesting to study the Olympics. as the focal point of the class and go through all the ramifications of the Games.”
During the semester, Ivory brought in guest speakers, such as the general counsel of US Olympic Committee, Olympic Edwin Moisés and civil rights icon Andrew Young — Mayor of Atlanta during the 1996 Summer Olympics. His students learned to respect the laws of the host city, NBC’s exclusive broadcast contract in the US, corporate governance, intellectual property, security protocols and how the International Olympic Committee functions.
After landing in Paris, Ivory and more than 30 students hope to explore the Olympic Village, Visit USA House Team, attend the opening ceremony, check out Olympic sponsorship websites and spend some time at a local law school. They will also embark on a scavenger hunt around Paris, looking for all the trademarks the class has studied throughout the semester.
“This is what it’s like to have an immersive education,” said Hannah Nodar, 24, a second-year law student and graduate research assistant at Ivory. Hoping to venture into sports and entertainment law, she is eager to learn more about safety regulations and sponsorship deals.
“I think it’s more practical, especially in a legal sense. I think it’s really cool to be able to go on an interview and describe what a licensing deal is or what a recording contract entails,” she continued. “You can have a more authentic conversation. You understand what you’re saying, rather than just regurgitating stuff out of a book.”
Nodar said she is grateful to have a teacher like Ivory, who wanted her students to hear directly from stars and veteran lawyers about negotiating the deals, contracts and legal concepts behind their brands. She started her course in 2019 with Ludacris as a featured speaker before bringing in Kandi Burress, Harvey and Ross. Others who have made appearances include DJ Drama and Steve Sadow, former President Donald Trump’s top lawyer in Georgia election interference case.
In January, Ivory surprised the gang with a dramatic Olympic trip. The teacher distributed envelopes to the entire class, informing them that only two envelopes contained tickets for the Games.
As Ivory’s students eagerly opened their envelopes, each of them gradually pulled out round-trip tickets to Paris. The professor said that Delta Airlines – which did not disclose the amount the company charges for air tickets and hotels – agreed to sponsor the trip about 48 hours after she presented her idea. She has received other small donations from Georgia State law school alumni.
“It wasn’t a hard sell,” said Ivory, a Spelman College alumna who earned her law degree from Temple University. Over the years, she has built her relationships in the entertainment and media industries as a lawyer and radio host and at Warner Music Group, where she worked on artist contracts.
Ivory said she wants to use her relationships to enhance her students’ experiences while also creating new partnerships.
“I’m providing my students with a learning experience through the popular culture they already love,” she said. “It’s not difficult to explain this to an organization, corporation or anyone. They understand immediately. The people are genuinely kind and really want students to have life-changing experiences.”
That was certainly the case for one of Ivory’s students, Ayanna Grant, who comes from an immigrant family. She gained invaluable experience through the course that she feels gave her an “edge” – even though Georgia State’s law school is not as highly regarded as Yale, Harvard and Stanford.
“Seeing Professor Ivory and hearing her story and journey as a lawyer is very inspiring to me,” said Grant, who is Guyanese and Jamaican and has been aspiring to become an entertainment lawyer since fifth grade.
Now, Grant and his colleagues will have the opportunity to network and build connections on an international level.
“Seeing who is taking action and helping to make the Olympics happen is an incredible opportunity,” she said. “You never know what connections might come out of this. Years later, that person could be someone who is giving you a job. You’ve already gained that familiarity with them.”
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