$1M Gift Caps Historic $33M Albany Law School Fundraising Campaign
Albany Law School closed the most successful fundraising effort in its 170-year history on June 30 with a final $1 million anonymous gift that pushed the total raised during We Rise Together: The Campaign for Albany Law School to $33 million.
“This campaign has exponentially grown annual giving, made our endowment stronger, fully endowed The Justice Center, and has made it more financially feasible for students to pursue a legal education at Albany Law School,” said President and Dean Alicia Ouellette about the campaign that publicly launched in 2019 with an anonymous, historic, and transformational gift of $15 million and a goal of $30 million.
“When we started the campaign, no one could imagine what the next two and a half years would be like. Our community responded and confirmed my beliefs that Albany Law School’s alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends, are truly a family that cares for and supports each other even in the most trying of times,” said Ouellette.
The Law School has raised almost $18 million since the launch with the Law School endowment growing to $81 million. Nearly 3,000 individuals supported the campaign.
Beyond the capping $1 million gift, contributions have included:
- A $15 million anonymous gift to endow The Justice Center
- A $1.8 million anonymous gift to support student scholarship
- A $1 million gift to establish a fund for innovation and entrepreneurship
- Significant growth in giving to the annual fund which is now $1.8 million annually
- Funding for 10 new scholarships and endowed funds
- Gifts to create a new Barrister Student Scholarship Program
- A $250,000 endowment to establish a Women’s Leadership Initiative
- Growth in support for the Helen Wilkinson Student Emergency Fund which has been used for COVID-19-related student relief
- Funding to create a new student wellness program
The Law School plans to celebrate the success of the campaign with a number of events for alumni, faculty, students, and staff throughout the fall.
