High spirits as the Law School’s largest-ever capital campaign kicks off
With cheerleaders, confetti and camaraderie, the Law School launched the public phase of the Campaign for SUNY Buffalo Law – the most ambitious capital campaign in the school’s history.
With a fund-raising goal of $30 million, the campaign – whose theme is “Our Time Is Now” – seeks to ensure SUNY Buffalo Law’s place as a premier public law school. It was introduced at a gala kickoff event on April 26 at Buffalo’s historic Kleinhans Music Hall (photos on pages 4 and 5). Over 150 alumni, friends, faculty and students were on hand as dignitaries including Law School Dean Makau W. Mutua and UB President Satish K. Tripathi spoke of the opportunities the campaign presents for legal education.
The campaign is well on its way: It was announced at the kickoff event that $17.7 million had been pledged during the quiet phase of the effort. “The Campaign for SUNY Buffalo Law signals a new era of unprecedented private support for the Law School,” says Karen R. Kaczmarski ’89, associate dean for development. “We are dreaming big and those dreams are becoming a reality, thanks to the help of so many of our alumni and friends, on whom we must rely as state support evaporates. We are deeply grateful to all who have supported the campaign so far, and invite everyone to join us as we continue our journey to success.”
At the kickoff, the campaign’s four alumni co-chairs outlined the campaign’s priorities: endowed faculty chairs and professorships, student scholarships, endowed program support and infrastructure funding – all to help SUNY Buffalo Law remain an attractive choice for lawyers in training. Among their comments:
Thomas E. Black Jr.’79
Black Mann & Graham
Flower Mound, Texas
“This is a historic moment for the Law School. We started the quiet phase of this campaign over three years ago, charting a course for the biggest fundraising initiative ever in the history of our school. Our vision is to be globally recognized and nationally renowned for scholarship, education and service. We knew, in order to realize our vision, that we’d need resources – significant resources. In this day and age, resources make all the difference between a good law school and one that is great. That is why we started this campaign – and why it is so critical to the Law School’s future.”
Kenneth B. Forrest ’76
Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz
New York City
“Our goal is to help shape the future of SUNY Buffalo Law School – to keep building a world-class law school that will continue to educate, elevate, advocate and innovate. We can do that by strengthening our four pillars: attracting and retaining star faculty, recruiting the best students, developing outstanding programs and creating a modern infrastructure. To do these things, we need to think big and dream bigger. And that’s why we have set an ambitious fundraising goal for the campaign.”
Margaret W. Wong ’76
Margaret W. Wong &
Associates Co. LPA
Cleveland
“We are almost 60 percent of the way to our goal of $30 million. Let’s take a moment to think about the significance of this. In just 31/2 years, $17.7 million has been raised, all of which is helping our Law School advance on all fronts. We’ve raised more, in half the time, than in the whole of our last campaign, which ended a decade ago. And with three more years to go in this campaign, we are all confident we will reach our $30 million goal.”
Francis M. Letro ’79
Law Office of Francis M. Letro
Buffalo
“Our time is now – to make the difference for the law school that made the difference for us. We have the momentum, we have a compelling vision, we have great leadership at the Law School and the University, and we have a plan and goals that we can achieve. All the elements are in place. We hope that each of you will join us in this great endeavor to take our law school to the next level. For, if not now, when? And if not you, who?”