Giving Now, Giving Later

Margaret W. Wong '76 at the Dean's Advisory Council meeting.

For one generous donor to UB Law School, the roles of alumna, advocate and mom made the decision to give an easy one.

Margaret W. Wong '76, a prominent immigration lawyer with offices in Cleveland, Columbus and Detroit, has pledged $250,000 over five years in support for tuition scholarships. The gift comes in addition to a $500,000 bequest that she has written into her will.

Wong, an enthusiastic member of the Dean's Advisory Council, notes that she went through law school on a full scholarship, after immigrating to the United States from Hong Kong in the late 1960s. "Without that scholarship, I would not be able to do what I do now," she says. "When I saw that the Law School had a shortfall because of budget cuts, I thought I would come in and help. I decided now is the time to pay back."

Her five-year gift will be used in scholarship support for students who might not otherwise be able to afford law school, and to attract top students for whom scholarship aid can be the deciding factor in their choice of schools. Wong said she was inspired by Dean Makau W. Mutua's plan to make UB Law a Top 50 U.S. law school, a plan that includes further improving the quality of each incoming class of students.

"I think he is an awesome dean and leader of the Law School," Wong says, "someone who broke the color barrier. It is good for all of us, and especially for a city like Buffalo, which is a very old city."

"I am thrilled that she would be so generous to the Law School," says Lillie V. Wiley-Upshaw, vice dean for admissions and financial aid. "This additional scholarship aid will assist us in accomplishing some of the goals that Dean Mutua has set out, and still allow us to offer financial assistance to our students who are in need."

For Wong, who built her business by word-of-mouth, in the early days handing out her business card on Cleveland city buses, the memories of her years at UB Law remain strong. "I love UB," she says."We were the first class to use the building on the North Campus – now they are already maxing out the space! Buffalo was an awesome school, and we were so proud to go there."

And maybe even prouder that her daughter Allison T. Chan is now a student at UB Law, walking the same halls her mother walked all those years ago.

Wong is an unabashed proponent of UB Law, saying that too often "we smile to ourselves instead of to the world outside."

And as for her philosophy of giving, it is a simple one: "The more good we do for other people, the more good God gives us. One day if I am richer, I will give more."