Class Giving: King Hall Class of '84 Leads by Example

Reunion class gifts are a big part of the culture of giving at UC Davis School of Law and a great way for former classmates to reconnect with each other and give back to the King Hall community.  Almost every class puts together a collaborative giving project in conjunction with their milestone reunion festivities, and the illustrious Class of 1984 has been especially ambitious, working to raise $100,000 to endow a student scholarship.

The King Hall Class of 1984 is an extraordinarily accomplished group that includes Chief Justice of California Tani Cantil-Sakauye, former California Senate President pro Tem and current Sacramento mayoral candidate Darrell Steinberg, Anne Stausboll, the first woman to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), and many other high achievers. 

"A lot of the members of our class have had very successful careers," said Penny Westfall, who is Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Valley Area Sutter Health as well as a member of the King Hall Alumni Board.  "But even more than the individual accomplishments, what stands out is the compassion, the caring and the humanity of our class members.  That's why we continue to this day to be so connected to the School of Law and to each other."

As with most classes during their Milestone Reunion year, the Class of 1984 formed a committee during the spring to organize group activities and plan a collective gift to the School of Law.  Westfall said that committee members Jamie Duarte and Craig Judson were especially influential in deciding to attempt something special.

"We had the rather aggressive idea of trying to raise $100,000 to endow a scholarship," said Westfall. "We thought about the various options, and we decided that we liked the idea of establishing a legacy, a scholarship that would pay out annually to support an entering student and create opportunities for others to follow in our footsteps."

The Class of 1984 is not the only group of King Hall alumni to attempt an ambitious gift.  The Class of 1975 has also launched a scholarship endowment fund drive, and a number of classes have made collective gifts to scholarships, endowed chairs, and other Law School priorities and programs. But the Class of 1984 has extraordinarily effective, raising more than $75,000 to date.

Westfall is optimistic they will complete the $100,000 endowment this year.  "That's my goal," she said.  "I know we have people who are ready to contribute, but day to day life is so busy that they just haven't been able to get around to it.  If we can just make it easy enough for them, I'm sure we'll reach our goal."

Gifts to the Class of '84 Scholarship Fund, as well as gifts to King Hall clinical programs, academic centers, endowed chairs, scholarships, and other associated funds may be made online https://give.ucdavis.edu/LLAW .  To find out more, contact Karen Charney, Senior Director of Development, at klcharney@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-6209.

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