Generation after generation, Boalt Hall has drawn together a remarkable intellectual community: bright, searching and superbly qualified students drawn to an institution admired for its brilliant and accomplished faculty. It’s a center of learning renowned for innovation in curriculum and instruction, boldness in addressing ideas, and engagement in every sphere of the law, government and society. Now, Boalt stands on the threshold of a new era. Its future excellence depends on an added measure of commitment from alumni and friends to expand upon Boalt’s tradition and help raise this unique institution to new heights.

It’s in that spirit that we’re launching the Campaign for Boalt Hall—an initiative that aims to raise $125 million as part of a long-term investment strategy to support Boalt Hall’s key priorities.

Why?

Why does Boalt need a $125 million campaign? Our goal is to secure Boalt’s standing as one of the world’s preeminent law schools—now and for generations to come. To do that, we must respond to four pressing challenges.

Boalt's Present: Four Challenges

Funding for Today - And Tomorrow
A few years ago, the state of California contributed more than half of Boalt’s operating budget. That fraction has fallen to less than a third. The impact is no mystery. The law school’s long-term needs—adding faculty, acting on new ideas for curriculum and research, even maintaining our buildings—have gone begging. The dramatic fee increases of the past five years—140 percent for residents, 83 percent for nonresidents—have done nothing to help Boalt invest in its future. Boalt’s continuing preeminence depends on changing that unsustainable reality now.

The Competition is Fierce
During the past decade or more, Boalt operated on subsistence-level financing. Simultaneously, peer law schools were investing heavily in faculty, facilities, curriculum and research. One result: Boalt faces strong challenges to its traditional leadership position among peer law schools.

A Reality Check on Our Facilities
Boalt is bursting at the seams. Moreover, the school is years behind in basic maintenance and renovation needed to make current spaces adequate to our needs and competitive with our peers. Like it or not, the world notices.

Living Up to Our Mission
It is our determination to define and exemplify all that a great law school—particularly a great law school with an important public mission—must be. We have a special responsibility to take on and solve the toughest, most important problems facing California, the nation, and the world. We can accomplish that by: Making leaders. Making ideas. Making a difference.

How?

To rise to these challenges, the Campaign for Boalt Hall focuses on four critical areas for investment—and on the foundation upon which our school’s future excellence will stand.

Investing in Boalt's Future

Educating Leaders
To ensure that Boalt can continue to admit the finest student body, the Campaign seeks $15 million for financial aid in scholarships and loan repayment assistance. We want the most attractive aid program among our peer institutions. Our mission requires nothing less.

Creating Knowledge: Recruiting and Retaining Great Minds
To enrich our curriculum and expand our portfolio of research contributions, we’re increasing the size of our core faculty by 40 percent. The market for top talent is fierce, so our continued success in recruiting and retaining faculty scholars will come at a price. The Campaign seeks $15 million for new endowed chairs, and for faculty recruitment and retention.

Making a Difference: Tackling the Problems that Matter Most
Lawyers are problem solvers, and a great law school should harness its excellence to engage the toughest, most important problems. The Campaign seeks $15 million for multidisciplinary research centers that will mobilize intellectual capital to make a difference in California, the nation and world.

The Boalt Hall Fund—The Foundation of It All
Each year, thousands of alumni and friends contribute to the Boalt Hall Fund, supporting the school’s vitality with unrestricted gifts that allow us the flexibility to act promptly on emerging needs. The Campaign seeks $20 million for the Boalt Hall Fund