UCLA Receives $1.5 Million to Endow Scholarships

The UCLA Athletic Department is pleased to announce a donation of $1,000,000 from education philanthropist Lowell Milken and his family to support student-athlete scholarships. The gift will be matched at 50 percent through the UCLA Chancellor's Centennial Scholars Match to establish the $1.5 million "Lowell Milken Family Centennial Scholars Endowed Scholarship Fund." As part of the Forever Champions Endowment Campaign, this endowed and unrestricted scholarship fund will be used to support the nearly 700 student-athletes at UCLA, who pursue a quality education while earning their degrees.

In appreciation of Lowell Milken's generosity, UCLA will honor the Milken Family in perpetuity by naming this scholarship fund after them and recognizing it in the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. Scholarship is a lifelong priority for Milken, who graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California Berkeley, then earned a law degree from the University of California Los Angeles with academic honors of Order of the Coif and the distinction of UCLA Law Review.

"Athletic participation and competition play a meaningful role in building skills and experiences that add value to the college experience," said Milken. "For those of us who benefited from our own experience within the UC system, we have the responsibility to help perpetuate this opportunity for current and future generations."

With athletic department scholarship expenses projected to reach more than $16 million in 2017, 100 percent of which is the responsibility of the UCLA Athletic Department, it is incumbent upon UCLA Athletics to generate revenue through private donations to support the education of student-athletes. An endowed scholarship program made possible through the generosity of private donors furthers this investment.

"Every initiative our athletic department undertakes begins and ends with the student-athlete," said Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero. "Lowell and the entire Milken family, who have been such staunch supporters of education across this entire country through their tremendous philanthropic endeavors, recognize what is at the core of our mission - the education of more than 650 young men and women. Lowell's is now the 20th million dollar-plus gift we have received during the UCLA Centennial Campaign, and our deepest gratitude goes out to the Milken family for helping us strive to continue graduating student-athletes at some of the highest rates in not just the Pac-12, but the entire nation."

This gift from Milken represents significant momentum for the Forever Champions Endowment Campaign, an effort to secure $50 million-plus in private philanthropy to advance UCLA Athletics' academic priorities. Forever Champions offers donors an opportunity to make a long-term impact on UCLA Athletics' ability to establish scholarship endowments, program endowments and endowed excellence funds while enjoying exclusive benefits and recognition.

An endowed scholarship gift supplies the UCLA Athletic Department with a perpetual source of income that provides the educational resources needed to attract, develop, and retain the nation's most talented student-athletes. Endowments are long-term investments. The principal is invested, and earned income is distributed in accordance with the guidelines agreed upon by the donor, the UCLA Athletic Department and the UCLA Foundation.

Through June 30, 2017, qualifying gifts of $75,000 to $1 million to undergraduate scholarships at UCLA will be matched at 50 percent through the UCLA Chancellor's Centennial Scholars Match program. Gifts eligible for matching funds must support new or existing endowments that are specifically designated to support undergraduate scholarships at UCLA.

By creating an endowment, which for a limited time will be matched at 50 percent, donors will forever link their name to a championship tradition while making a direct impact on future generations of UCLA student-athletes.

For more information or to support UCLA student-athletes, contact the UCLA Athletics Development Office at 310-206-3302 or visit www.woodenathleticfund.com.

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UCLA Receives $1.5 Million to Endow Scholarships

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UCLA Receives $1.5 Million to Endow Scholarships

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