UCLA Law to expand endowment
By Samantha Bryson
April 30, 2008 12:32 a.m.
A campaign to raise $100 million for the UCLA School of Law launched Tuesday, marking the start of a 4 1/2-year effort to offset the effects of the state’s steadily declining financial support.
Since the planning phase of the campaign began in July 2005, the School of Law has received $44.3 million from several large donations. The remaining $56 million is expected to come largely from within the alumni circuit.
“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,” said Michael H. Schill, dean of the law school, in a press release Tuesday.
Ten years ago the state provided for 75 percent of the school’s budget, but that number has since dropped to 30 percent, according to Laura Parker, associate dean of external affairs.
Fundraising efforts of this magnitude are generally undertaken by private universities with more developed alumni networks, but the state funding cuts have forced the school to look elsewhere for the money it needs to maintain its competitive edge.
“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,” said Kenneth Ziffren, a law school professor and the campaign’s chairman.
These “private resources” will largely take the form of alumni contributions solicited through phone calls and at class reunions, but the third-year class of students is anticipated to generate roughly $130,000 in donations.
John Trang, a first-year law student, said that, while he hopes to see more scholarships arise from the fundraising campaign, he is inclined to wait until he achieves alumni status before he contributes financially to the school.
“UCLA is a public school, but it’s still very expensive. I wouldn’t feel comfortable donating right now while I am still paying tuition, but certainly after I graduate,” Trang said.
The school is currently working on improving its resources for alumni so that students like Trang will remain connected and involved long after they receive their degrees.
“It’s harder for public universities,” Parker said. “Typically major donors come from decades of involvement. We did not have the resources to invest in alumni resources and development.”
The UCLA School of Law is the youngest law school ranked in the nation’s top 20 by US News and World Report and, at 55 years old, has only 12,900 alumni.
“Although we don’t have a long tradition of fundraising, our alumni as a whole are happy with their experience in law school. It had a positive impact on their lives, and that makes it easier to launch this campaign,” Parker said.
Though she said meeting the $100 million goal by December 2012 would be a challenge, Parker maintained the success of the campaign would be a key factor in determining the school’s future.
If the committee succeeds in raising the full $100 million, 30 percent of it will be for scholarships and loan forgiveness programs to offset the increasing cost of UCLA’s $31,000-per-year law degree.
An equal amount will be allocated for faculty support and the creation of endowed chairs Schill said will help UCLA continue to attract high-quality professors. The largest portion, 38 percent, will go toward special programs such as the Environmental Law and the Entertainment and Media Law Programs.
The final 2 percent will be for capital improvements such as desks, audiovisual equipment and the moot courtroom.
