Alumni Helen and Morgan Chu pledge $10 million to benefit UCLA Institute of American Cultures
AcademicCivic EngagementFriends and SupportersStudentsHelen and Morgan Chu, whose student activism in the late 1960s helped launch UCLA’s ethnic studies centers, have pledged $10 million to the UCLA Institute of American Cultures, the largest gift ever made to the institute.
The Chus have been longtime supporters of the university that brought them together more than five decades ago. Their 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.
The Institute of American Cultures was founded in 1969 to serve as the central hub of the university’s four ethnic studies centers, which are dedicated to research, community-based partnerships and civic engagement that advances social and racial justice. Through these efforts — and through events, conferences, grants, fellowships and scholarships — the centers, their students and affiliated faculty members are helping to shape social and cultural realities in the U.S. and beyond.
“We are honored and humbled by Helen and Morgan Chu’s remarkable gift, which will advance UCLA’s scholarship and teaching related to human identities and some of the most pressing issues of our time,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. “UCLA has long been at the forefront of the examination of the histories, cultures, contributions and experiences of different racial and ethnic groups in the United States, and the Chus’ investment will allow us to deepen the impact of this essential work.”