Message from the Campaign Co-Chairs
September 30, 2006Dear Friends and Fellow Alumni:
Today we launch a capital campaign for the future of the Law School. It signals a new era for Virginia—from the advent of financial self-sufficiency, to market-driven tuition, to the investment our students make in their education and themselves. In every material way, Virginia now relies on itself and on you to secure its place among the nation’s finest law schools.
The last time the Law School had a capital campaign, its purpose was clear to everyone. Virginia was a great institution with a second-rate physical plant. The building had neither the charm of Clark Hall nor the advantages of new construction. We had one very good reason to raise money, and we built a capital campaign around it. When we were done, we had the most attractive and admired facilities in the legal academy. We also had a legacy of campaign success to carry with us.
The new campaign has a different focus and direction, but it is the essential next step in the Law School’s history. This time we invest in our hallmark: the student experience. The pride and loyalty we feel as alumni began in the classrooms and corridors of the Law School. That is still true. The students are smart and disciplined, talented and ambitious, and above all good to each other. No other institution can claim Virginia’s unique culture. It has been transmitted from class to class, generation after generation. Making it even stronger is our goal in this campaign.
To continue to enroll the kind of students we want at Virginia, we need to ensure access and enable career choice. That means we need substantial endowments for all manner of financial aid, from scholarships to public service loan forgiveness. We also need more resources for faculty support and curricular innovation, both of which are key to the quality of instruction and intellectual life expected by our students.
These are new priorities for the Law School. They reflect the demands of competing in the first rank of American law schools. We wouldn’t want it any other way, because the only reason to have a capital campaign is to be the best. With your help, this campaign will not only mark a period of great change for the Law School, but also the moment when Virginia came to define excellence in legal education.
With appreciation and warm regards,
| David L. Mulliken ’75 Co-Chair Campaign Executive Committee |
Edward “Ned” J. Kelly, III ’81 Co-Chair Campaign Executive Committee |
Meet the Campaign Executive Committee
