July 14, 2010 — The University of Virginia School of Law completed its 2009-10 annual giving campaign with a record number of donors and surpassed 50 percent alumni participation for the fifth consecutive year.

A total of 8,430 graduates made gifts to the school, or 52.7 percent of active alumni. Annual gifts exceeded $10.3 million, of which almost $4 million were unrestricted.

"The surge in donors shows confidence in the Law School's leadership and the investments we have made in our students and faculty," said Luis Alvarez Jr., president and chief executive of the University of Virginia Law School Foundation. "Our alumni continue to support us in growing numbers, and we aim to be good stewards of their gifts. The success of that relationship has helped make Virginia one of the nation's great law schools."

"The Law School tries, I think successfully, to provide the best student experience of any in the nation," Dean Paul Mahoney said. "The support we receive from our alumni is an important measure of our success in that endeavor."

The University of Virginia School of Law relies solely on tuition and private giving. The school's foundation is a nonprofit corporation that receives, administers and manages private gifts from Law School graduates and friends.