UCLA School of Law set a new annual fundraising record in 2020-21, with donations from alumni and friends that amounted to more than $39.9 million. The total exceeded the previous high mark of $32.7 million, which the law school set in 2018-19.

Gifts contributed to the excellence of nearly every area of law school. Generous support went to scholarships for students, new faculty chairs, centers and institutes, and the creation or expansion of curricular offerings and other educational opportunities.

A full 3,008 donors made 3,976 gifts. Law school alumni made up nearly 65% of the contributors. UCLA Law continues to have a higher percentage of alumni giving back to the school than any other UCLA professional school or part of the university. In addition, 488 people gave for the first time, a 21% increase over the previous year.

“It is so deeply gratifying, especially on the heels of the hugely successful Centennial Campaign that ended last year, to see our alumni and friends continue their support — and, in fact, to give even more than they have ever before,” says John Sonego, the law school’s associate dean for external affairs. The five-year Centennial Campaign culminated in a $181 million haul for the law school. “Even better: So many new alumni and friends joined in, giving back to this incredible institution and recognizing our accomplishments depend on their generosity.”

Major gifts during 2020-21 include:

• An anonymous gift of $5 million for the recently founded Center for Immigration Law and Policy, allowing it to expand its staffing and operations. This year, the center brought in Professor from Practice Ahilan Arulanantham and deputy director Talia Inlender. They join Distinguished Professor Hiroshi Motomura, who serves as faculty co-director with Arulanantham.
• $3.7 million from Lowell Milken ’73 to create the Program on Philanthropy and Nonprofits in the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy.
• $1 million from Lynda and Stewart ’62 Resnick to continue their support of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy.
• $1 million to establish the Alicia Miñana Chair in Law from Alicia Miñana ’87 and her husband, Rob Lovelace. The chair is designed to support a faculty member with interests at the intersection of human rights and immigration or migration. The inaugural holder of the chair is Professor E. Tendayi Achiume.
• $1 million from Karen and Jeff Silberman ’82, to establish an achievement fellowship scholarship, the second such scholarship that they have endowed. The Silbermans also provided $250,000 in immediate-use funds to support the law school’s Achievement Fellowship Program.
• $600,000 from the David Bohnett Foundation to help create the Judge Rand Schrader Pro Bono Program and hire Grace Meng as the inaugural Judge Rand Schrader Pro Bono Director.
• $250,000 from Miñana and Lovelace to support the hiring of a communications director for the Critical Race Studies program.