Giving

Campaign for Vermont Law School

On January 26, 2012, Vermont Law School announced the public launch of The Campaign for Vermont Law School—a $15 million effort to support student financial aid, a new Center for Legal Services, programs that improve national environmental and energy policies, and educational initiatives that produce highly skilled lawyers at home and abroad.

The campaign was launched silently in September 2008 with a gift from trustee Fran Yates that went toward the purchase of the former Freck's department store, a historic building and landmark in downtown South Royalton. The building, which is being renovated according to VLS's high standards for stewardship of the environment, will house the law school's clinical programs and become the new Center for Legal Services.

"This project represents the best of what a Vermont Law School education provides with a focus on the importance of clinical opportunities for students," said President and Dean Jeff Shields. "The Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic (ENRLC) and the South Royalton Legal Clinic (SRLC) have a long history of community service, and this building provides them with a new state-of-the-art home and room to grow."

Not surprisingly for the nation's #1 environmental law school, the quiet phase of the campaign saw tremendous success in building resources for environmental programs. Exciting new projects like a Center for Agriculture and Food Systems were launched. The Institute for Energy and the Environment secured grants to partner with Carnegie Mellon University, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy. And VLS's U.S.-China Partnership for Environmental Law offers new opportunities for students at home and abroad.

But a new home for the law school's clinical programs and scholarships to reduce student debt remain the two highest priorities and most pressing needs. And as we move toward the conclusion of The Campaign for Vermont Law School, VLS needs your help.

Still a young, private institution with an endowment of only $11 million, VLS relies on the generosity of alumni, parents, and friends to help improve the quality of its education, provide more opportunities for students, and compete with larger and older peer schools. The Campaign for Vermont Law School has provided a vehicle for investing in our special brand of legal education. Our efforts to date have raised over $15 million-which is the largest fundraising drive VLS has ever achieved.

CAMPAIGN FACTS - through February 1, 2012

1,561-VLS alumni who have given to The Campaign

903-Parents, friends, and other non-alumni who have made gifts to The Campaign

44-Private foundations that have made gifts to The Campaign

92%- Campaign participation by the board of trustees

$1.3 Million-Total raised by the VLS annual fund during The Campaign

$15.3 Million- Total funds raised by The Campaign for Vermont Law School

$11 Million- Total endowment for Vermont Law School