Two UCLA alumni have pledged $10 million over a five-year period to their alma mater. The money will go toward creating endowed chairs and supporting research opportunities at the school’s Institute of American Cultures (IAC) and its four ethnic studies research centers.
Morgan and Helen ChuKaren Umemoto/UCLA Asian American Studies Center
This pledge – the largest gift made to the institute since its founding in 1969 – came from Morgan and Helen Chu, two UCLA graduates who have historic ties to the university and the institute’s centers. In the late 1960s, the two were student activists who engaged in collective, multiracial student protests that resulted in the creation of the ethnic studies centers themselves.
“From the very beginning, we thought the notion, the concept, the feeling about creating ethnic studies centers at that point in time would be a good thing for education, research, and teaching,” said Morgan Chu. “And over the years, we saw that it was a very good thing.
“It was like planting a seed, not to say that we were the sole seed planters, because there were many people – many students, some faculty, and others – planting seeds, fertilizing them, helping them grow.”
The IAC and its four centers – the Asian American Studies Center, the American Indian Studies Center, the Chicano Studies Research Center, and the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies – offer students and faculty access to research, fellowships, civic engagement, and scholarships, according to its website.
According to UCLA, Helen later pursued a long career as an elementary school teacher, while Morgan continued in higher ed, earning several degrees from UCLA, in addition to an M.S.L. from Yale University and a law degree from Harvard University. He gained prominence as a trial and intellectual property lawyer.
The two have made several other gifts to UCLA over the years, leading to a 2001 scholarship fund in their name, as well as an endowed director’s chair for IAC’s Asian American Studies Center.
