Headline: Tyler Short Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence Gives Back to Law Community

Tyler really enjoyed the clinical application of the Entrepreneurship and Community
Development Clinic (ECDC), being involved outside the law school and with clients, and having
a more hands-on approach, said Dr. Kerry Short, father of the late Tyler Short and founder of
the Tyler Short Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.
Tyler, a member of Cincinnati Laws Class of 2012, was always willing to lend a hand to others,
excited about learning, and possessed a great sense of humor and a zest for life. In April 2012,
Tyler unexpectedly died due to an undetected heart condition.
In the wake of this tragedy, Cincinnati Law came together to support the Short family. Dr. Short
recalls that members from every level and corner of the law school offered their support, from
the dean on down, with 30 individuals coming to the funeral and several others attending the
visitation.
Tyler died just weeks before the hooding ceremony was to take place; faculty members began
to muse about the possibility of considering his coursework complete, and thus his eligibility for
graduation. Ultimately, Tyler was hooded posthumously, with his father standing in his place on
graduation day.
Tyler was an ECDC intern in 2012, during the clinics third term. They were growing together,
Tyler and the program itself, you could say, stated Dr. Short.
Although he knew how much Tyler enjoyed working in the clinic, Dr. Short was not fully aware of
his sons success until Professor Lew Goldfarb, ECDC clinic director, approached him about it.
Goldfarb describes Tyler as the ideal student for the clinic, with his adventurous spirit, thirst for
learning, passion for helping others, and a fierce determination to chart his own path after his
law school graduation.
Tyler was working in the clinic for the majority of the day before his death, and was talking to
Goldfarb about what he wanted to do after graduation; despite others trying to discourage him,
Tyler and a classmate wanted to go into practice together. Tyler asked Goldfarb to act as his
mentor, a position he accepted.
I think he finally felt like he had a direction, and that was the day before he died, Goldfarb
recalls.
The outreach of compassion and support that the law school gave to Dr. Short compelled him to
create an award in honor of his son; he wanted to do something in his sons memory, but also
give back to the law school that had helped him and his family through a terrible time.

Soon after the funeral ceremony, Dr. Short contacted Goldfarb about donating a monetary gift in
order to set up an award in Tylers memory. Goldfarb had the idea of creating an
entrepreneurship-related award to capture Tylers spirit, and was instrumental in establishing the
award.
The award is presented annually to a graduating student who has been involved with the ECDC
and who exhibits a strong entrepreneurial spirit, possesses a keen interest in advising
entrepreneurs or aspires to be one, and excels in curricular and/or extracurricular activities
related to the same.
These qualities are meant to reflect the type of person that Tyler was and to continue his legacy.
Although Dr. Short had little association with the law school prior to Tylers death, it has tied him
to the school and the students. Since this tragedy, Dr. Short has come to the hooding ceremony
each year, and attended the ECDCs fifth anniversary celebration in November 2015.
Tylers spirit lives on in the school, despite the fact that students who attended with him have
graduated. Walking into the ECDC Office, it is impossible to miss the Tyler Short Wall of Fame,
which is covered in photos of each semesters interns. The poses have gotten more creative
over the years, a possible side effect of Tylers unique love for life and striking humor.
It seems like Tylers name comes up a lot through the course of talking to our students each
semester, said Goldfarb. Often times when people come back here and see the Wall of Fame,
we talk about who he was. Whether its about the clinic, or the pictures, there seems to always
be discussion about him.
Tyler was a force to be reckoned with. Some of his greatest escapades became known to Dr.
Short only after his death, when Tylers friends shared their memories of him.
One night when he was a freshman, he and a friend decided to swim across the Ohio River.
They were on the Kentucky side, maybe out being silly and daring and double daring each
other, Dr. Short remembered about his son.
Long story short, he and his friend decided to swim across the Ohio River, to be promptly
arrested on the Ohio side. His friends got scared that those two had drowned, so they called the
police when they were part way across.
He was a bit notorious, for better or for worse, Dr. Short laughed.
Author: Michelle Flanagan, 18, Communication Intern