Climbing Above the Culture Clash

Dear Alumni and Friends,
Like most academic institutions across the country dealing with the impact of the severe recession, Boston University School
of Law faced an array of challenges in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2009. As we began the 2009 fiscal year in the
summer of 2008, it was not conceivable that in only a few months the nation would be gripped by an economic crisis so dire
that it would bring most of our financial institutions to the very brink of collapse.
A year later, our financial markets appear to be recovering and beginning a slow climb out of recession. BU Law has also
weathered this financial storm without severe consequences. The fiscal planning that President Brown and Dean O’Rourke put
in place early last fall to counter the effects of the recession enabled our faculty, students and staff to continue our enterprise
without harsh cutbacks to academic program areas, student services and financial aid, and most importantly without layoffs.
However, even our very sound fiscal planning would not have been as effective without the financial support of our generous
alumni and friends.
In the 2009 fiscal year (July 1, 2008–June 30, 2009) the Law School received cash gifts totaling $1,870,726 from 2,279 alumni
and friends. We thank the many of you who maintained or even increased your giving in FY09, notwithstanding your real fear of
what the future would hold. Although every single gift in FY09, no matter how small, helped us avoid a more serious financial
picture, a few significant gifts are worthy of special mention.
Paul R. Sugarman (’54), a longtime supporter of BU Law, and his wife, Susan, made a wonderful pledge of $100,000 to
establish the Paul R. and Susan J. Sugarman Scholarship Fund. The income from this permanently endowed fund will provide
annual scholarship awards to one or more students enrolled at the School of Law. This is a welcome addition to our financial aid
offerings, especially as the debt burdens of our students remain a concern.
Also in FY09, the School of Law received $167,000 from the Marion Kauffman Foundation as part of a new three-year grant in
support of Professor Michael Meurer’s research and work in the area of innovation.
Loyal Law School alumni continue to remember us in their wills and estate plans, and we encourage all alumni to consider a
testamentary provision for the School as a way of demonstrating your ultimate support for your alma mater. The estates of
Joseph F. Holman (’50) and Mary G. Sullivan (’49) made gifts of $50,000 and $49,626, respectively. Their gifts will ultimately
support our building facilities and our unrestricted needs.
Notwithstanding the current economy and its impact on alumni giving, Dean O’Rourke and I have continued our conversations
with many of our most supportive alumni regarding the Law School’s strategic plan and how additional gift revenue will be
needed to make that plan a reality. We are determined to reach out to as many alumni as possible no matter where they reside
and practice geographically as we ramp up our fundraising efforts. Indeed, BU Law alumni are positioned in almost every major
industry and legal market across the nation and beyond. Although a significant number of alumni remain in New England, we
have growing numbers of alumni on the west coast and abroad.
44 | Boston University School of Law | www.bu.edu/law