In time for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, UConn has received its largest human rights gift from two benefactors. The donation will provide scholarships and build the endowment of the UConn Human Rights Institute
Philanthropist George Soros and UConn alumnus Gary Gladstein with his wife, Dr. Phyllis Gladstein, announced a $4 million gift to the UConn Human Rights Institute, the largest donation to the internationally renowned program.
The gift, which requires the UConn Foundation to raise an additional $2 million in matching funds, would give the Institute a $6 million endowment and provide scholarships to undergraduates majoring in human rights.
UConn said its institute, with its interdisciplinary focus, is one of the top human-rights programs in higher education worldwide. Faculty members are drawn from most schools and colleges across the university, including anthropology, political science, business and law. The program has a strong focus on collaborative research and scholarship.
Gladstein, who has been the Institute’s primary benefactor, is giving the institute a gift of $2 million. Soros, a businessman, philanthropist, and political activist, has pledged to give a $2 million challenge grant. Soros’s grant is through the Open Society Foundations, his grant-making network dedicated to building democracies with accountable and open governments.
