 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
|
|||||||||||||
| about us |
Endowment Opportunities: From Project to InstituteI. History Charles R. Williams' inaugural donation of $2.5 million to create the Williams Institute is the largest donation ever given to any academic institution in support of a gay and lesbian academic program in any discipline. Facilitated by Arnie Kassoy, Mr. Williams' attorney and a UCLA Law graduate, this generous gift was the first step towards the establishment of a permanent institute for the study of sexual orientation law and public policy at the UCLA School of Law. The next step towards that goal was reached in October 2002, when Mr. Williams and an anonymous donor pledged an additional $1 million to fund the Williams Institute Reading Room and a collection on sexual orientation law and public policy, housed in the Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library at UCLA. In October 2003, Mr. Williams pledged an additional $4 million to the Williams Institute over the next decade. As part of this gift, he has challenged the Williams Institute to raise $500,000 to endow the first Law Teaching Fellow in the nation. II. Vision of Future: Endowment and Naming Opportunities Additional funding is still necessary to establish a permanent institute dedicated to the study of sexual orientation law and public policy. Currently, the Williams Institute and UCLA School of Law are seeking additional donors to fund or endow the following components; each presents a naming opportunity for potential donors. Click on the linked titles below to see additional information and descriptions about specific endowment opportunities.
For more information about supporting the Williams Institute, contact the Williams Institute Director, R. Bradley Sears by e-mail at sears@law.ucla.edu or by telephone at 310/794-5279. III. Descriptions of Endowment Components * Williams Law Teaching Fellowship Program The Institute's new Williams Law Teaching Fellowship program provides annual funding for a recent law school graduate to come work at the Institute for one year in order to conduct scholarly research and writing. The goal of the Fellowship Program is to encourage and support new scholars in developing a career in sexual orientation law scholarship and teaching. Funding is need to provide a stipend for the Fellow, as well as the office space, research assistance, and administrative support necessary for their work. During the fellowship year, the fellow will present a work-in-progress at a faculty workshop and assist with organizing and moderating Institute conferences and programs. Chuck Williams has give $1 million towards the endowment of this fellowship. He is challenging the Williams Institute and the community to raise the additional $500,000 in endowment money that is still needed. Currently we are seeking 100 donors to give 5,000 or more, over a period of the next five years, to complete the Law Teaching Fellowship Endowment.
* The Dukeminier Awards: Best Sexual Orientation Law Review and Public Policy Articles With current funding, the Williams Institute has developing a new journal on sexual orientation law and public policy called The Dukeminier Awards: Best Sexual Orientation Law Review and Public Policy Articles. As a "prize" or reprint journal, The Dukeminier Awards reprints an annual selection of the best, cutting-edge articles from law reviews and policy journals around the country. The journal also publishes original articles written by law students, selected through a national writing competition. The intent of this "prize-awarding" journal is to create incentives for scholarship and to help the careers of those engaging in this scholarship by recognizing outstanding work. Additionally, complimentary copies of the journal will be distributed widely to lawyers, judges, government officials, and other policy-makers throughout the United States.
* Public Policy Research Fellowship Program The Institute's Public Policy Fellowship Program will provide annual funding for a recent law or graduate school graduate to come work at the Institute for one year in order to conduct legal and public policy research and to produce scholarly writing on sexual orientation law issues. The goal of the Fellowship Program is to encourage and support new scholars in developing a career in sexual orientation law scholarship and public policy. Funding is need to provide a stipend for the Fellow, as well as the office space, research assistance, and administrative support necessary for their work. During the fellowship year, the fellow will collaborate on researching and writing public policy and legal analyses on sexual orientation law issues, present a work-in-progress at a faculty workshop, develop continuing legal education programs, and assist with organizing and moderating Institute conferences and programs.
* Summer Fellowships for Law Students The Williams Institute currently funds one fellowship for a law student to work on sexual orientation law and public policy issues during the summer. The goal for the Institute would be to offer four $5,000 fellowships every summer. Some of these fellowships would be limited to UCLA School of Law students, while others would be awarded through a national competition. The fellowships would fund students to work at national and local non-profit organizations that focus on sexual orientation law issues, or to work with the Institute on researching and writing an article in the field of sexual orientation law and public policy.
* Sexual Orientation Law Communications and Archive Project The Institute currently maintains a communications program that includes some limited hardcopy material (brochures) and some limited web capacity. Both of these communications functions need to be expanded and perfected in the normal course of operations. However, the ambition of the communication project is much more significant: namely, to create a national archive of materials on sexual orientation law, particularly an archive that would be widely available on-line. We are especially interested in collecting the archives of the major gay rights groups, past and present, and in placing important litigation materials on the web. For example, we would like to create a brief bank on the web containing the briefs that have been filed in important gay rights cases during the past fifty years. This would provide an invaluable service to the bar since briefs of other attorneys, though public documents once filed in a court, are almost impossible to get (courts do not make them easily available). This web archive would also have an immeasurable impact on scholarship: it would give scholars throughout the world access to important archival materials and thus enable numerous forms of research and writing that are currently infeasible. Additional funding is needed to pay the salary of an archivist (who would be primarily responsible for establishing on-going relationships with the relevant groups); to fund the work associated with collecting the materials for the archive, cataloguing them, and getting them on line; to fund the technology that would make this project possible; to fund regular technological improvements; and to fund the mechanical work of getting the materials onto the web. The archivist position would be a full time position for a certain number of years (5-10) during which archival materials are collected and placed online for the first time; but it could be phased down to part time position after this component is well-established.
* Visiting Scholars Program The Institute's Visiting Scholars Program annually would allow a scholar from another law school to visit the Institute and UCLA School of Law for one semester. The Institute will be an important national site for sexual orientation scholarship, with its resources eventually including the faculty, staff, journal, and archive. Scholars from around the country will be attracted to UCLA and we will want to support their scholarly efforts by hosting regular visits. Scholars at law schools enjoy making such visits because they are typically relieved of some teaching and all service obligations and thus can concentrate on their scholarship. They also appreciate working in the company of others in their field. Enabling these visits creates opportunities for increased scholarly production and will stimulate the work of the Institute with fresh personnel and insights. During the semester, the Visiting Scholar would be provided with a salary, office space, and research and administrative support. Depending on the particular Visiting Scholar, he or she would be required to teach a course related to sexual orientation law, present a work in progress in a faculty workshop at the end of the semester, and/or participate in the Institute's conference and programs.
* Endowed Faculty Chair of Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy The Institute would eventually include an endowed faculty chair of sexual orientation law and public policy. The goal of this gift would be to enable UCLA School of Law to create a new permanent, full-time faculty position and then hire an additional faculty member with expertise and scholarship in the field of sexual orientation law. This would not only be the first such chair in the United States, it would augment the staffing and talent of the Institute and make it that much more highly visible and productive. This component can only be funded through an endowment. The endowment cost for the faculty chair is $5 million, an amount set by a policy of the UC Regents. A $5 million gift to endow this faculty chair would be the largest gift ever given to an academic institution for lesbian and gay studies.
For More Information/Contact Us For more information about supporting the Williams Institute, contact the Williams Institute Director, R. Bradley Sears by e-mail at sears@law.ucla.edu or by telephone at 310-794-5279. |
||||||