Pepperdine Caruso Law Fundraising After Our Naming Gift

After receiving our $50 million naming gift three years ago, deans of schools that had received similar gifts warned me of the tendency for other alumni and friends to feel that their financial support may no longer be needed. During a road trip in Texas with Rebecca Malzahn, our Assistant Vice Chancellor and Senior Director of Development, we brainstormed ways to keep our alumni and friends energized about the law school. I had just watched one of the ESPN 30 for 30 sports documentaries, so we decided to do a 50 For 50 campaign to commemorate our $50 million naming gift and our 50-year anniversary. We hoped 50 alumni and friends would each donate $50,000 for student scholarships, raising a total of $2.5 million:

My wife Courtney and I were the first to contribute, and we exceeded our goal and raised $3.5 million from 55 donors. After several celebration events had to be postponed due to Covid-19, we were finally able to gather recently and thank our wonderful partners at a dedication event and unveiled a plaque with each donor's name to be displayed at the law school

followed by a dinner at the home of university president Jim Gash

Our Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution is celebrating its 35-year anniversary. You guessed it:

Our naming gift challenged us to raise an additional $50 million of endowment over the succeeding ten years. We are of to a good start with two large gifts in the past two years:

• $5 Million Brenden Mann Chair In Law & Religion
• $1 Million Judge Danny Weinstein Endowed Managing Directorship and Endowed Scholarship Program