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UCLA School of Law
Launches $100 Million
Endowment Campaign;
Initiative Will Support
Student Scholarships,
Faculty, Clinics and
Centers
UCLA Newsroom
By Lauri Gavel
April 29, 2008
UCLA School of Law
announced today that it
has launched a campaign
to raise $100 million to
increase student
scholarships, attract
and retain faculty, and
support centers and
institutes that inform
law and public policy.
"We are an ambitious
law school, and this is
an ambitious plan," said
Dean Michael H. Schill
in announcing the
campaign and goal at a
meeting of 150 prominent
alumni and friends of
the law school. "It
reflects a fundamental
shift in the funding
paradigm for UCLA Law.
This funding will enable
us to secure our future
as one of the nation's
leading law schools, in
terms of the quality of
our students, the
scholarship of our
faculty and the
influence of our centers
and institutes."
According to Schill,
"Given the constrained
budget of the state of
California, it is clear
that we will
increasingly need to
rely on private
resources to maintain
our excellence and grow
our programs.
Nevertheless, we will
not, under any
circumstances, forget
that we are a law school
dedicated to the public
interest. From the
moment we were founded,
we have stood for the
proposition that any
student of merit could
gain a law degree,
regardless of his or her
economic wherewithal. We
remain committed to this
principle, and this
campaign will enable us
to fulfill this
commitment."
"In addition, one of
the defining aspects of
UCLA School of Law is
that we are deeply
engaged in our community
and the world," Schill
said. "Many of our
graduates choose to work
in the public interest
as leaders in government
or nonprofit agencies.
Our faculty regularly
influences law and
public policy through
their pathbreaking
scholarship and
community activities.
The resources we raise
in this campaign will
enable us to continue
this proud tradition."
Kenneth Ziffren '65,
chairman of the campaign
and a founding partner
of Ziffren, Brittenham,
Branca, Fischer,
Gilbert-Lurie,
Stiffelman, Cook,
Johnson, Lande & Wolf
LLP, noted that state
funding has declined to
37 percent of the law
school's resources and
was expected to fall
further.
"I am extremely
impressed with the law
school's ambitious plans
and am confident that
this campaign will
receive strong support
from our alumni and
friends," Ziffren said.
"It is imperative that
we continue to compete
successfully for the
most talented students
and most accomplished
faculty in the nation.
We can only do that with
private resources."
Tuition at law
schools, both public and
private, has risen
dramatically in recent
years.
"When I went to
UCLA," Ziffren said,
"total fees amounted to
about $200 per year;
next year at UCLA Law,
they will likely exceed
$31,000. My classmates
and I received the best
education imaginable at
UCLA, and we need to
give back to ensure that
the next generation of
students has similar
opportunities. We must
raise endowments to
support all aspects of
the school, including
scholarships."
Founded in 1949, UCLA
School of Law is the
youngest of the nation's
top 20 law schools and
has one of the smallest
endowments.
"There is intense
competition among law
schools for the best and
most diverse students
and for world-class
faculty," Schill said.
"The endowment raised
through this campaign
will enable us to
compete more effectively
against older,
better-financed and
mostly private law
schools."
In addition to
seeking funding for
student scholarships,
and to attract and
retain a world-class
faculty, the campaign
will also seek support
for law school clinics,
centers and programs in
fields such as business
law and policy, law and
philosophy, critical
race studies,
entertainment, media and
intellectual property,
human rights, and
environmental law.
"Through these
programs and in our
clinics, we not only
affect law and policy,
we also give our
students the opportunity
to experience the law as
it is practiced," Schill
said.
UCLA School of Law
has already received
several leadership gifts
as part of an early
phase of the campaign,
including:
- $6 million from
Joanne and Michael T.
Masin '69 and the
Masin Family
Foundation to support
the law school's
highest priorities and
to establish the Masin
Scholars program,
which recognizes the
12 students who have
the highest grades
after their first year
of law school.
- $5 million from
Rae and Dan A. Emmett
and their family to
establish the nation's
first law school
center focused on
issues involving
climate change, the
Emmett Center on
Climate Change and the
Environment.
- $5 million from
Jane and David J.
Epstein '64 to
establish the David J.
Epstein Program in
Public Interest Law
and Policy and the
Jane Epstein
Scholarships for
Educational Law and
Policy.
- Increased
leadership giving from
Charles R. (Chuck)
Williams to further
enhance the Williams
Institute on Sexual
Orientation Law and
Public Policy,
bringing that
endowment to more than
$10 million.
The law school has
also received individual
gifts exceeding $1
million to support its
students, faculty and
programming from
Azmeralda and Omar Alfi;
Lori and A. Barry
Cappello '65; the
Rosalinde and Arthur
Gilbert Foundation; Jim
L. Hooker; Diana and
Roger Jenkins; Pete
Kameron; John McDonald
and Rob Wright; Paul,
Hastings, Janofsky &
Walker LLP; Shirley and
Ralph Shapiro '58; Debra
and Bruce Spector '67;
and Ellen and Kenneth
Ziffren '65.
"These initial gifts
demonstrate strong
support for our law
school, our plans and
our future," Schill
said. "I am confident
that we will reach our
goal."
The campaign is
scheduled to close in
December 2012.
UCLA School of Law,
founded in 1949, is the
youngest major law
school in the nation and
has established a
tradition of innovation
in its approach to
teaching, research and
scholarship. With
approximately 100
faculty and 970
students, the school
pioneered clinical
teaching, is a leader in
interdisciplinary
research and training,
and is at the forefront
of efforts to link
research to its effects
on society and the legal
profession.
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