Co-Chairs' Message

Dear Friends and Fellow Alumni:

We represent two generations of alumni who greatly benefited from the excellent legal education we received while attending the University of Minnesota Law School. The skills we have used to build our careers and the values that inform our service to community were greatly strengthened while Law School students. Decades after our respective commencements, we are confident that our Law School’s academic excellence and commitment to service remain strong. However, we also fully recognize that legal education and the environment for today’s students and recent graduates have changed significantly.

The costs of an outstanding legal education continue to rise at an alarming pace. At our Law School, these rising costs are precipitated by the rapid decrease of public support. Thirty years ago public support for the Law School provided roughly 80% of revenue. Today only a very small fraction of the Law School's funding comes from the state, and that fraction is directed entirely to the Law School's library, a resource the Law School shares with the University and the community. The two of us, in fact the vast majority of alumni, benefited from state-subsidized tuition that kept excellence affordable. Those days are gone and are not expected to return. On average, law students today graduate with more than $90,000 in debt.

We stand committed to helping the current generation of students face the challenges of higher costs and a changing employment market. We enthusiastically embrace our responsibility to assist students as they pursue opportunities that were afforded to us. We are confident that our Law School will continue to innovate in response to the new financial realities that face higher education.

Elliot S. Kaplan ('61) and Bruce W. Mooty ('80)

Please join us by supporting GENERATIONS. The Campaign for the University of Minnesota Law School. In the past, the alumni community has successfully joined together to provide the resources needed to ensure that the Law School achieved great things. This campaign is the critical next step in our collective efforts. Decades from now, we all will look back and understand that our support helped the current generation of students become successful leaders at home and around the world. In that unchanged tradition, we will undoubtedly take great pride.

With best regards and sincere appreciation,

Elliot S. Kaplan ('61) and Bruce W. Mooty ('80)