This post was updated on July 31 at 6:13 p.m.
University officials launched a crowdfunding campaign Thursday morning in response to the flooding on campus Tuesday afternoon, which affected several parking structures and buildings, including the famed Pauley Pavilion.
The campaign, hosted on the UCLA Spark crowdfunding platform, raised several thousand dollars within hours of going live.
Officials set the fundraising goal for the Chancellor’s Emergency Flood Relief Fund at $1 million in 60 days. About $4,700 was raised in the first six hours of the campaign.
Jarrett Oakley, assistant director of UCLA Spark, said the campaign will allow alumni and community members help the university recover from the flood. He said it is not aimed at receiving small or large donations in particular, though most of the contributions so far have been small.
Funds will support students, faculty and staff affected by the flood and the restoration of campus buildings including Pauley Pavilion, though the exact distribution is not set and will be at Chancellor Gene Block’s discretion, said Nancy Katano, executive director of corporate, foundation and research relations at UCLA.
UCLA spokesman Phil Hampton said the campaign was brought together in response to queries from UCLA supporters asking to help after the flood.
“This is not a traditional campaign, it’s a unique campaign, put together in rapid response to an emergency,” Hampton said.
Hampton added in an email statement that donors giving to the flood relief fund do not need to pay the regular 6.5 percent administrative fee for donations.
On Wednesday, university officials called for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to pay for damage to the campus as a result of the flooding, and encouraged those with cars trapped in parking structures to file claims with the LADWP.
Hampton said Thursday that he was not aware of any specific conversations between the university and the LADWP about paying the costs of the water damage, and that UCLA is currently focused on getting campus operations back to normal.
People who want to donate can visit the website or call (310) 825-2454.
UCLA is a university operating a $5 BILLION annual budget
and has a $2 BILLION endowment. It is just plain ridiculous that the university
has launched a fundraising campaign asking the general public to contribute to
the costs of flood relief. One million dollars is a drop in the bucket for a
university with billion dollar finances and should be a cost born by the
university and its insurers. Furthermore, the university can seek to reclaim those
costs directly from the DWP. Asking for public contributions is a high mark of dodging
responsibility and inappropriately foisting a liability onto a public whose
monies would be put to much better use for other organizations that routinely
do charitable work but are perennially underfunded (e.g., Homeboy Industries).
Endowments are rainy day funds designed precisely for unexpected financial burdens
and surely the Great Flood of 2014 can be a no better example of a rainy day,
especially in this drought-laden climate.