STANFORD — The Levin Center at Stanford Law School (SLS) recently received an unexpected anniversary gift when it received an anonymous estate donation of $7.4 million as the center was celebrating its 10th anniversary.
The gift will not be used for capital improvement, but officials said it will be earmarked for student and alumni programs.
‘’The generosity of this gift is noteworthy,” Richard E. Lang, law professor at Stanford University, and Dean M. Elizabeth Magill said. “But just as important is that this new endowment funding will allow us to expand our already strong support for students and graduates who wish to pursue careers in the public interest.”
The law school uses the center to run programs that support its students, alumni and the nonprofit public interest field.
“Public service is a core responsibility of those in the legal profession and a critical aspect of the education we provide at Stanford,” Diane T. Chin, a lecturer at Stanford University, said. “This new support will allow us to expand the ways in which we ensure our students and alumni have every opportunity to pursue the work that brought them to law school in the first place.”
According to the school, ‘’the Levin Center coordinates a national mentorship network comprised of close to 500 graduates, provides more than $500,000 in summer stipends to students, offers support to students in obtaining postgraduate fellowships every year in addition to funding 10 fellowships for SLS graduates.’’
The law school also offers a loan repayment program.
SLS recently was named the No. 2-ranked law school behind Yale, according to U.S. World and News Report. Last year, Stanford was tied with Harvard in the rankings behind Yale.