“The true differences around the world are not between different religions or races, but more about those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it.” – Gary Gladstein ’66

Philanthropist George Soros and UConn alumnus Gary Gladstein ’66 with his wife, Dr. Phyllis Gladstein, announced a $4 million gift to the UConn Human Rights Institute, the largest donation ever received by the internationally recognized program.

As part of the gift, Soros and the Gladsteins challenge you, UConn Nation, to raise another $2 million, which they will then match. Your gift of any size can go further than it would alone—and help propel the world-renowned UConn Human Rights Institute to new heights.

Bring clarity to the human rights issues of our time

Your gift will empower faculty to research the impact of human rights violations at home and around the world. In UConn Today, for example, UConn School of Law Professor Richard Ashby Wilson described the impact of recent rulings from the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal, which tried leaders accused of war crimes during the 1990s Balkans War.

“The verdict [in one of the cases] demonstrates that an international court can hold accountable a former head of state for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, and issue a reasoned judgment that reasonably applies international criminal law to the facts of the case,” said Professor Wilson, a founding director of the Human Rights Institute, who is writing a book on the topic.

Show how the past can help shape the future of human rights

Your gift can illuminate how human rights law has shaped the past, affects cultural discourse, and can influence future policy—through projects such as one exploring the use of habeas corpus.

Sarah Winter, an English professor at UConn, is working with the Human Rights Institute to study the use of the writ throughout history and literature.

“It wasn’t just a judicial remedy for unlawful detention, but it also created a legal framework represented in narratives of the time, including literature, that began to give what were understood to be human rights to citizens and non-citizens alike,” said Professor Winter in another recent UConn Today article.

Empower UConn to put ideas into action

Thanks to your support, UConn faculty and students can offer their expertise to those who need it most. For example, a group from the Schools of Law and Social Work spent their spring break offering free legal and psychosocial assistance to female asylum-seekers from Central America being held at a federal immigration detention center in York, Pa.

Join George Soros and the Gladsteins in supporting the UConn Human Rights Institute