Kaufman granted $1 million donation


The donation was gifted by an anonymous donor to the Kaufman School of Dance and will be added to USC’s endowment fund to generate additional revenue over the next few years. (Vincent Leo | Daily Trojan)

The Kaufman School of Dance received a $1 million gift from an anonymous donor earlier this month. The funding will benefit both Kaufman and the Thornton School of Music, increasing collaboration between the two schools.

The schools work together on programs such as the annual Choreographers & Composers Concert and want to use the funds to work on other projects in the future, according to Kaufman Director of Advancement Patrick Leder-Morrow.  

“The Choreographers & Composers Concert — that’s an established collaboration that happens year over year,” Leder-Morrow said. “One thing that’s been sort of in talk about was doing a similar program with popular music in addition to classical music.” 

The donation, which will be paid over a few years, will be added to the University’s endowment fund to generate additional revenue for Kaufman to use for the coming years. 

“Oftentimes when donors make a significant contribution, it’s essentially setting up an endowment fund that might be paid over a few years,” Leder-Morrow said. “We tap into that income to support [school] collaborations but the million dollars stays in the [endowment] fund forever, generating additional revenue for the school to use year after year.” 

Leder-Morrow said the funds will lead to increased collaboration with other schools in terms of artists working together.

“This is really just an opportunity for faculty to dream,” he said. “They can imagine what future collaborations might be.” 

Leder-Morrow said that currently no decision had been made regarding the allocations of the funding, but discussions about utilizing the money have started.

“There’s nothing planned yet,” Leder-Morrow said. “This is all still very new, but I know that conversations are happening among faculty both on the Kaufman side and the Thornton side to figure out the best way to put this new resource to good use.”