UF Law meets fundraising goal, wins matching grants

The University of Florida's Levin College of Law raised $1.5 million from alumni and supporters in a 12-week span to unlock two matching donations, college officials announced.

In total, the college now has $4.5 million to boost its scholarship funds, thanks to the "Culverhouse Challenge" created by Hugh Culverhouse Jr., a 1974 graduate of the law school. 

Culverhouse initiated the challenge after the law school rose in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of the nation's law schools from 48 to 41, school officials said in a news release.

Culverhouse promised a $1.5 million match for incoming-student scholarships if the law school could raise its own $1.5 million. And in June, UF Provost Joe Glover promised another $1.5 million match if the law school met the goal, the release said.

Law Dean Laura Rosenbury and other UF law college officials traveled across the state and the nation's east coast, meeting with alumni, students and prospective students and raising money.