The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has announced a $10 million gift from alumni Helen and Morgan Chu for the Institute of American Cultures.

The largest gift to the institute will create endowed chairs in the Asian American, American Indian, and Chicano studies centers, as well as in the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. A portion of the gift also will fund research projects and programming across the institute. The donation will enable UCLA to invest in campuswide inclusive practices, including scholarships and initiatives focused on attracting students from underrepresented backgrounds, and support the university’s work to obtain official federal designations as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution.

The Chus were part of UCLA’s student-led protests in the 1960s that brought about the creation of the university’s ethnic studies centers. The couple’s previous philanthropy led to the creation of the Morgan and Helen Chu Chair in Asian American Studies, the Helen and Morgan Chu Director’s Chair of the Asian American Studies Center and the Morgan & Helen Chu Scholarship Fund for undergraduate students.

“Morgan and I believe that the gulfs that persist in separating people can be bridged through study and research but also through conversation and, ultimately, mutual understanding,” said Helen Chu. “We are proud to make a gift that will help the faculty, students, and staff associated with the UCLA Institute of American Cultures to advance social justice causes in the decades to come.”

“At this important juncture for ethnic studies in American higher education, our purpose with this gift is nothing less than bolstering rigorous scholarship in these fields at UCLA,” said Morgan Chu. “We chose to make our gift here because of UCLA’s ability to have a meaningful impact and because the institution has meant so much to us throughout our academic and personal lives.”

(Photo credit: UCLA Photography)