Supporting Legal Studies at UIC:
Investing in Brilliant Futures

We are eager to promote interest in the law – as a possible career, as a topic of study, and even as a competitive sport throughout the university. A generous gift from William Lamar, a 1973 LAS alumnus who majored in Political Science, has already enabled us to create the William Lamar Scholarship Fund to begin the process of better preparing our undergraduates for application to law school. But there are many other ways in which financial gifts could help us meet our goals.

As only one example, we would love to be able to support our Mock Trial team in comparable fashion. The team has already achieved extraordinary success, repeatedly finishing in the top ten in the National Tournament. Two team members were named as Intercollegiate All-American Attorneys this year; with additional support to guarantee the funding they need, another future national championship would be a real possibility.

At the heart of our concerns, however, is not a competitive but an intellectual interest in the law. Because a great many UIC faculty and graduate students, from a wide variety of departments, work on legal topics and in particular on issues relating to law and society, we would like to begin sponsoring, first, a Law and Society Seminar and then a national Law and Society Conference. The goal would be to encourage the most exciting research here at UIC and to provide a national forum in which our own faculty and students and faculty from around the country could share their findings and debate ideas. And, finally, at the other end of the academic spectrum, we’d also like to offer a conference on legal questions for high school students in the Chicago area, bringing them together not only with UIC students and faculty, but with alumni as well.

Of course, there are many other ways in which gifts could enrich law-relevant studies and research at UIC, including scholarships for students headed for law school, endowed chairs for faculty who study legal issues, and research funds to support student and faculty law-related research. In every case, the idea, in general, is to emphasize and develop UIC’s interest in legal issues at all levels, beginning with students before they even come to campus and extending to our alumni and alumnae after they have left the campus.

The Legal Interests Committee invites you to make a gift to support law initiatives at UIC through the Pre-Law General Fund. Assist us in providing students with the financial support to explore the field of law and work toward obtaining their brilliant futures. Making a gift is easy, tax deductible, and has an immediate impact on our students.

If you would like to make a gift, we would love to speak with you. If you'd like to making a general contribution for law-related activities such as those above, please call us at 312-413-1898. We can assist you in making a gift over the phone via credit card, or we can mail a remittance card to you with a postage paid envelope. If you would like to discuss some of your specific ideas for funding, please call that number and ask to speak with Bette L. Bottoms, Associate Dean for Legal Studies, or send her an email at bbottoms@uic.edu.

We thank you in advance for helping us with this new UIC initiative in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It is through the generous support of alumni and friends that we are able to attract and graduate such incredible students as those who will benefit from the Pre-Law General Fund.