CORRECTED WITH NEW HEADLINE AND TEXT ON OCT. 17, 2024
NORTH HAVEN – A Stamford attorney has made a “generous philanthropic gift” to The Quinnipiac University School of Law’s graduates.
Longtime university Board of Trustees member Richard Silver, a senior partner at Silver Golub & Teitell of Stamford, has contributed a substantial donation to benefit third-year law students as they prepare for the bar exam, according to a statement from Quinnipiac.
His contribution will provide each member of the School of Law’s Class of 2025 with access to the Helix Bar Review by AccessLex and the 3L Pre-Bar course. This resource, valued at approximately $6,000 per student, is designed to provide post-graduate preparation for the Connecticut Bar Exam.
Last year, there were 108 new students enrolled in the law school and the total number of law school students is 365, according to comparelawschools.com.
The School of Law Class of 2025 learned about this remarkable gift during a surprise announcement at their “Transition to Practice” workshop on Oct. 15.
“I’ve been involved with the law school since its start, and so I’ve been very interested in its progress and the success of its students,” said Silver. “As a law student, you’re working diligently for several years, and the most important thing is to pass the bar exam in order transfer to become a member of the bar and practice law. This contribution is to support students to pass the bar and also to support our new dean’s leadership and vision of student success.”
School of Law Dean Brian Gallini said he’s deeply appreciative of Silver’s tremendous show of support, and energized by the momentum his gift.
“The entire community is deeply appreciative for Rick’s transformative and forward-thinking philanthropy, which both supports graduates and recognizes that at Quinnipiac, we really are thinking about students’ success not just during law school, but afterwards. Rick’s gift is evidence of that,” Gallini said.
Gallini said Silver’s gift also adds momentum to the recent appointment of Professor Kevin Barry to the inaugural position of associate dean of student success.
“Kevin is an extraordinary leader with deep institutional knowledge and an ability to relationally move every stakeholder of this law school forward,” Gallini said. “We’re able to align Rick’s gift with Kevin’s abilities, and I’m excited about how those two things are going to intersect for the benefit of our students.”
Barry said he’s thrilled to be part of a much larger project to help students thrive in law school, on the bar exam, and in the profession.
“Trustee Silver’s gift and Dean Gallini’s leadership have allowed us to make some modest changes that saw our Connecticut Bar pass rate jump substantially, and there are more changes to come,” Barry said.
Silver’s philanthropic gift to the School of Law represents his ongoing stewardship of the university, and the power of how an individual can make a difference, said Vice President of Development and Alumni Affairs Nick Wormley.
“When you look at true philanthropy and looking at what are the biggest needs at a university, I think his gift has set records,” said Wormley. “For us to have our Connecticut pass rates to be higher than the state average, and to grow our percentage with a gift, is a credit to what Dean Gallini is trying to achieve.”
