Majority of Alumni Give to UVA Law for 11th Consecutive Year

For a record 11th year in a row, more than 50 percent of alumni have participated in the University of Virginia School of Law annual giving campaign.

The school received $15.1 million in total gifts during its 2015-16 annual giving campaign, which concluded June 30, thanks in part to the generosity of 8,937 alumni donors — a 52.1 percent participation rate.

The Law School Foundation spearheads the annual fundraising effort, considered among the most successful in higher education in the nation. UVA Law depends on tuition, endowment and private gifts for its operations.

"We pride ourselves on the happiness and success of our students, both while they are at the Law School and for the entire arc of their careers once they graduate. The fact that our alumni give back at such high rates is a compelling measure of that happiness and success. We are dedicated to them; and they are dedicated to us," Dean Risa L. Goluboff said. "Because private giving, as well as tuition revenue, makes possible all that we do at the Law School, our annual giving campaigns are essential to our ability to continue to provide both that powerful student experience and the highest quality of legal education."

Of the $15.1 million received, a record $5.1 million was unrestricted.

Goluboff said such unrestricted giving "is a powerful vote of confidence in the Law School for which we are deeply grateful."

"Unrestricted funds offer a level of flexibility that is crucial to our ability to respond to new opportunities and meet unanticipated needs throughout the year," she said.

The Law School Foundation was created in 1952 and is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to receive, administer and manage the private gifts of Law School graduates and friends. This year marked the 51st anniversary of the Foundation's annual giving campaign.