The ESRR Endowment Fund for the Wallace Stegner Center (ESRR Fund) awarded the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law $250,000 in March 2016 to enhance programming and scholarship opportunities for students studying environmental law.
The ESRR Fund was established in 2015 with a $1 million endowment, and $50,000 was awarded to the College of Law in April 2015. In December 2015, the organization informed the law school that the size of the ESRR Endowment for the Stegner Center would be increased to $5 million, with an anticipated yearly gift of $250,000. The newly announced gift is the second gift from the ESRR Fund to the Stegner Center.
“The Wallace Stegner Center has been very creative in its outreach programs and involvement of students in learning about collaboration and conflict resolution in issues of land management, public policy and conservation,” the organization wrote in a letter to Stegner Center Director Robert Keiter. “[Donors] are enthusiastic about the potential of exploring the related issues of energy policy, climate change, water policy and wildlife policy.”
The Stegner Center is one of the law school’s most esteemed centers, with its environmental law program ranked in the top ten in the country last year by U.S. News & World Report. The Center sponsors regular programs focused on public lands, water, energy, wildlife and other hot-button topics affecting the American West.
“We deeply appreciate the confidence that the ESRR Fund has vested in the Stegner Center with this exceptional endowment-funded grant, which will strengthen our existing programs and open the door for new initiatives,” Keiter said.
“We are thrilled about the new opportunities the support from the ESRR Fund will bring to the S.J. Quinney College of Law,” said Robert Adler, dean of the law school. “It will also provide critical financial assistance to students interested in studying environmental law, allowing them to pursue their aspirations in the government and public interest sectors without having to worry as much about law school debt.”