A $650,000 endowment in honor of memory of an alum who died shortly after graduating from the UCLA in English will increase graduate support there by about 10%.
The boost is expected to increase the department’s ability to compete with better-endowed universities for top-tier graduate students. The quality of graduate students goes a long way toward setting the tone of a department because they help teach undergraduates.
"This gift demonstrates that you don’t have to give a huge amount to make a big difference," said department chair Ali Behdad, noting that the endowment is about the value of a middle-class home on the Westside. "Just imagine if more homeowners did this."
The funds were left to UCLA as part of a trust established by the late Harold J. Kendis, Sr., a Beverly Hills attorney, and his late wife Daphne Kendis. He died in 2000, and she died in 2010, and her estate is in the process of being resolved. The trust honors the memory of their son Harold J. Kendis, Jr., who received a B.A. in English in 1966 and died the following year.
Prior to the Kendis endowment, some 20 endowments were generating $320,000 to $330,000 each year toward support for graduate students in English. The new endowment is expected to generate $32,000, which will be enough to support an additional graduate student and do so at a level that is comparable with graduate support being offered at the best universities, Behdad said.
Currently UCLA accepts about 12 graduate students in English each year.
"This gift may not seem like such a huge amount, but this is a big jump for us," Behdad said. "It puts us on better footing with other top-notch universities that can afford to offer generous packages to graduate students."
