$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 nearly $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.

About Albany Law School

Albany Law School is a small, private school located in the heart of New York State’s capital where it has educated leaders since 1851. The institution offers students an innovative, rigorous curriculum taught by a committed faculty. It has an affiliation agreement with University at Albany that includes shared programs, and access for students and faculty to learn from one another. Students have access to New York’s highest court, federal courts, the executive branch, and the state legislature. With approximately 10,500 alumni practicing across the country and several continents, Albany Law’s graduates serve as a vital community and resource for the school and its students. The school offers the J.D.—the traditional law degree—along with residential and online master’s and LL.M. programs, as well as online advanced certificate programs. In 2019, the school launched We Rise Together: The Campaign for Albany Law School, a $30 million capital campaign. Visit albanylaw.edu.