Villanova University is the latest school to announce a major donation and a name change. The university announced a $25 million to from law school alumnus Charles Widger, founder and executive chairman of Brinker Capital.
It is the largest ever gift to the law school and the second largest in the University’s history. In recognition, the school will be named the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.It is the first named school or college at Villanova and the 19th law school to be named after a benefactor.
Northwestern University School of Law changed its name in October after a $100 million gift from J.B. Pritzker, the second largest gift to a law school. Six other universities have changed their law school names in the past five years, including Drexel University, Chapman University and Hofstra University.
“Charles Widger’s historic gift recognizes the strength of Villanova’s Law School — our faculty, students and our alumni — and the unwavering belief in its future,” said the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, Villanova University President. “The gift will propel our Law School forward to new heights, and I am pleased and honored that the School will now and forever be connected to the Widger name.”
The donation will support the growth of the school’s endowment and enhance academic innovation at the Law School through the following programs to be named in his honor, including an:
- Endowed Scholars Program to provide financial support to incoming Law School students who have shown a significant interest in both law and business and have demonstrated leadership qualities.
- Endowed University Professorship to create a new interdisciplinary University faculty member position based in the Law School that will help foster cross-campus research, academic programming and collaboration among Villanova’s colleges.
- Dean’s Innovation Fund to support new strategic and academic programs that enable the law school to stay on the cutting-edge of ever-shifting market conditions. The fund will launch new programs, such as efforts focusing on student formation, and will help us gain sustainable advantage in the legal education market.
“My investment in Villanova Law is an investment in the preservation of the two institutions that are vital to a free society, the rule of law and a market economy, both of which will enable us to flourish as a people for generations to come,” Widger said in a statement . “Our graduates enter the profession better trained than any others to take on this awesome responsibility as lawyers in private practice, business, government or the nonprofit sector.”
This gift is part of the University’s $600 million Comprehensive Capital Campaign, the most ambitious in the University’s 174-year history. Villanova launched the public phase of its Campaign in October 2013, and to date has raised more than $500 million towards its $600 million goal, including $55 million for the Law School.
“Charles Widger’s leadership gift exemplifies the goals of Villanova’s comprehensive capital campaign,” said Michael J. O’Neill, Senior Vice President for University Advancement. “A member of the Campaign’s Executive Committee and the Chair of the School of Law Campaign Committee, Chuck understands the goals of this campaign at Villanova — to cultivate academic innovation, enhance financial aid and student opportunities, and secure our future through growing the endowment. We are grateful for Chuck’s steadfast commitment to Villanova University in general and the Law School in particular.”
