The Cecil C Humphreys School is raising 12 million dollars in private support from graduates, friends, foundations, law firms, and other sources. $6 million dollars relocated the post office and the remaining $6 million will fund endowments to support student scholarships, faculty professorships, and academic initiatives. The State of Tennessee allocated an unprecedented $42 million toward the renovation of the historic custom house, federal courthouse and most recently post office.

The campaign offers numerous naming opportunities, both for parts of the new building and for programmatic enhancement. Pledges in support of the campaign may be paid in appropriate installments over a period of three to five years to assist generous donors in their financial planning.

For more information on how to give please click on the following link, WAYS TO GIVE, or contact the Law School Development Director, Shawna Engel, at 901-678-2425.

Why Relocate

The decision to relocate to the renovated United States Customs House and Post Office in the Memphis Central Business District was made for a number of reasons.

First, this will be a truly world-class facility with beauty, grandeur, and historic significance for the legal community. Second, its proximity to the center of legal, governmental, and business activities in Memphis has clear educational benefits. Our students and faculty will have more regular interaction with the legal profession including judges and leading practitioners who will assist in fulfilling our mission. Finally, our participation in the amazing renaissance of Downtown Memphis is an entirely appropriate step by an important college of our university, which is committed to being a leading metropolitan research university. The 500 new persons our program will bring downtown on a daily basis will have positive effects for downtown merchants, developers, and others.

Endowment

To be competitive with the finest regional and national law schools, we need to augment our endowment in a major way. The law school's total current endowment is considerably less than the nearby schools which we most commonly compete with for students and faculty. Law schools with substantially higher endowments use income to fund critical programmatic needs during a time of scarce and static funding from the state.

After careful consideration we have decided to seek private support to increase our endowment by $6 million, which will foster a significant improvement in our program, and make us more competitive with our peer institutions. An increased endowment will allow us to address the following needs:

• More competitive scholarships to attract and retain the best students
• Increased operating funds to support activities of student organizations
• Increased operating and programming funds for faculty research and Development
• Enrichment support for lecture series, seminars and visiting faculty to enliven the learning environment and intellectual life of the law school and to enhance its national reputation.