The document discusses the Lowell Milken Institute-Sandler Prize established at UCLA Law to provide students skills for careers in law, business, government, and philanthropy. It also discusses upgrades to classroom technology and physical spaces to enhance the learning experience. Additionally, it discusses the importance of merit scholarships in ensuring access to legal education and empowering students to pursue public interest careers without burdensome debt.

1. 8 | UCLA LAW MAGAZINE
& Sandler. “When I look at the achievements of the UCLA
Law faculty, the quality of the law school’s leadership and
the caliber of the students at the school—not to mention my
own personal experience as a law student—I know this gift
is in the right hands.”
Sandler’s partner in establishing the prize is businessman
and philanthropist Lowell Milken ’73, a longtime investor
in the school. He founded the Lowell Milken Institute
at UCLA Law in 2011 to provide students with essential
tools for careers not only in law and business, but also in
government service and philanthropy, and as he sees it,
the goals of the institute and the Lowell Milken Institute-
Sandler Prize are one and the same. “There is a long list
of skills students are going to need once they graduate.
Among those are building business models, navigating
spreadsheets, grasping complex intellectual property issues
and understanding financing. These are all things that will
come into play as a result of moving forward with a coherent
business plan, and I’m therefore optimistic this prize is
going to add real value.”
Reinforcing critical infrastructure is another way the
campaign is adding value to a UCLA Law education. “A
major thrust of the campaign is synergizing content and the
classroom,” says Lindsey Williams, the school’s associate
dean of external affairs, “by doing things like equipping
lecture halls with advanced technology to enhance the
student learning experience.” Williams cites one example
of how “smart” classrooms can help students feel more
connected to the material. “If your professor wants to poll
the class on a particular subject, you’ll be able to press a
button and cast a vote in real time,” she says. “The resulting
data can then be tracked and analyzed, adding a fresh layer
of insight to the issue at hand.”
Equally important is upgrading and reconfiguring
physical spaces to create more intimate learning
environments. “Our biggest challenge is ensuring access to
everyone who has the ability and desire to pursue a legal
education,” Williams says. “But as we seek to open our doors
wider, we also want to make sure students have more than
just a huge classroom experience. Working together with
alumni, donors and friends, we can channel new resources
to create physical spaces that are warm and welcoming and
that engage students in smaller groups.”
THE FINANCE FACTOR
If collaborative investment is the life’s blood of UCLA Law’s
campaign, then students are the beating heart at its center.
Prioritizing student needs by expanding merit scholarships is
a key animating principle of the fundraising effort. “Our law
school was formed with the idea of serving the poor boys
and girls of East Los Angeles who couldn’t afford private
school and weren’t able to go north,” Moran says. “We sent a
strong message that, no matter where you were from, if you
were able and dedicated you would be able to go to college.”
That message resonates just as strongly today, says 2L
Dae Keun (“Andrés”) Kwon, recipient of the Emil Joseph
Stache Scholarship, a selective merit-based, full-tuition,
public interest scholarship. “For years, I felt called to attend
law school,” recalls Kwon, who also holds a Master of
Public Administration degree and spent nearly a decade as
a community organizer. “But I could not afford to take on
such immense debt—not when I already had sizable student
loans from both undergrad and graduate school and was
committed to doing public interest work, no matter what.”
For Kwon, UCLA Law’s offer of support was pivotal.
“Without this scholarship, I would not be where I am today,”
he says. In turn, Kwon is eager to pay the law school’s
generosity forward. “As recent immigrants from Argentina,
my parents and I felt powerless attempting to obtain capable,
responsible representation in order to navigate a complex legal
system,” he says. “I came to law school to empower myself
and become my own lawyer. I came to law school so I can
serve immigrants and families like mine.”
Seeking empowerment is a common theme among UCLA
Law’s scholarship recipients. “The law gives people power,
and scholarships help distribute that power a little more
evenly throughout the population,” says 3L Sara McDermott,
another Stache scholar. “For people who otherwise wouldn’t
have access, it’s daunting to take out a pile of money and
have to pay it back. Scholarships make it possible for them
to take a leap in their own lives and impact others.” The
scholarship was instrumental in McDermott’s own decision to
matriculate, as well. “UCLA Law’s public interest and Critical
Race Studies programs are renowned, but the financing was a
major factor,” she says. “In the final analysis, it meant I could
go to this excellent school, have access to incredible resources
and pursue a career in the area I want without having to
worry about incurring sky-high debt.”