EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 A new $5 million matching grant from the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation is giving the University of Texas at El Paso a boost in its push to establish a law school, offering El Paso-area donors a chance to double their contributions as the university works to meet its funding goals. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Hunt Family Foundation announced a dollar-for-dollar matching challenge to support the community-led effort to establish a law school at UTEP. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a border community, El Paso has unique legal needs, and establishing a law school at UTEP would help prepare the next generation of legal professionals to serve our region,\u201d said Woody L. Hunt, chairman of the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation. \u201cWe are proud to support this effort and encourage individuals, businesses, and organizations to join us. Through this matching challenge, every dollar contributed will be matched, doubling the impact of each gift and bringing us closer to making a law school in El Paso a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the match, the foundation will contribute one dollar for every dollar donated by individuals, businesses, and organizations toward the proposed law school, up to $5 million. If the full match is secured, the challenge would generate a combined $10 million for the initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are closer than ever to a law school in El Paso,\u201d said UTEP President Heather Wilson. \u201cI am grateful to the Woody and Gayle Hunt for their support, which will help take us to the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n
UTEP said the new match follows other major commitments toward the project\u2019s startup funding goal. <\/p>\n
In October 2025, the Paul L. Foster Family Foundation established a $5 million matching challenge to help launch the law school. Then in April 2026, El Paso law firm Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro, P.C., made a $5 million gift, bringing the initiative halfway toward its $20 million startup funding goal.<\/p>\n
Several law firms have also stepped forward to support the proposed law school through the matching opportunity. UTEP said additional matching funds remain available and that it will begin announcing gifts made in response to the matching challenge in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
The Hunt Family Foundation\u2019s commitment comes as UTEP prepares to present its vision for the law school to the Texas Legislature in 2027.<\/p>\n
UTEP\u2019s effort follows a feasibility study funded by the Texas Legislature in 2023 and completed in 2024. The study found strong interest among prospective students and a growing regional and statewide demand for legal professionals. It also concluded that a UTEP law school could become financially self-sustaining after an initial 10-year startup period.<\/p>\n
The study estimated the school would need about $20 million in operating support over 10 years, plus funding for a dedicated building. UTEP has proposed in its state budget request that the legislature fund the building needed for a law school, saying there is not sufficient space at UTEP for an accredited law school in existing buildings.<\/p>\n
With approvals, state support for construction, and philanthropic support, UTEP anticipates welcoming its first law students in 2030, with enrollment gradually increasing to 100 new students annually.<\/p>\n
According to UTEP, the proposed law school would prepare students for a range of legal careers while developing a focus in public and private international law involving the United States and Mexico. Areas of emphasis would include contracts, estates, taxation, imports and exports, customs and immigration, and international water law. The school also aims to address a shortage of fluently bilingual lawyers equipped to serve individuals, businesses, and institutions on both sides of the border.<\/p>\n
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