University of Michigan Law School

Michigan Law School Receives Large Donation

The University of Michigan Law School has received a historic multi-million donation.
The $33 million dollar gift, the largest in school history, was donated by Lisa and Chris Jeffries, a 1974 grad of Michigan Law and co-founder of Millennium Partners, a real estate development company. The donation will be used for student support, including scholarships and other forms of financial aid, summer funding programs, and debt management, according to the National Jurist.
“We are deeply grateful for Lisa and Chris’s transformational gift. Their generosity is particularly meaningful because it directly supports our students, who are the heart of our mission,” Mark D. West, dean and Nippon Life Professor of Law, says in a press release. “The Jeffries’s support also reflects one of Michigan Law’s greatest strengths: the passion and generosity of our alumni community.”
A Giving Trend
The donation to Michigan Law is one of many multi-million dollar gifts that many schools have been receiving in the recent months.
The University of Alabama School of Law received a $26.5 million donation. Stanford Law received a $25 million gift. The largest gift was a $135 million donation to the University of Arizona College of Law.
At the University of Michigan Law, the school’s South Hall will be renamed Jeffries Hall.
“Law school is a unique way of disciplining your mind, and my time at Michigan was formative and memorable,” Chris Jeffries said. “I’m especially interested in paying the way forward for students who lack financial resources, and this gift will allow them to have opportunities and experiences they otherwise wouldn’t be able to.”
Sources: National Jurist, University of Michigan