Announcing the Charles Richard Anderson MSL Scholarship for Farmed Animal Protection
A newly created scholarship for journalists and digital content designers and producers will help shine a light on industrial animal agriculture and the exploitation of farmed animals
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We are honored to announce the newly created Charles Richard Anderson Scholarship for Farmed Animal Protection for Animal Law MSL students at Lewis & Clark Law School.
A long-time philanthropist, Charles Anderson, and his wife, Pamela Gross, have given to an array of charitable causes, such as the Aspen Music Festival and the San Juan Community Foundation. They vividly recall, however, the day when their minds and hearts were opened to the enormous and dark world of farmed animal exploitation. They had attended the Animal Law Conference, co-hosted annually by the Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) and the Animal Legal Defense Fund and what they learned there was deeply impactful. Charles says: “That conference changed my life. I became committed to helping build the legal capacity to protect the billions of farmed animals, suffering greatly and trapped in a system that creates so much harm and does so much damage.”
Strong believers of the power of education to unlock systemic change, Charles and Pamela were inspired to support CALS because of its established track record providing the world’s first and most comprehensive animal law program, which includes a strong focus on the consequences and cruelty of industrial animal agriculture. Charles and Pamela first created the Law Scholars for Change Program through a collaboration with CALS, to provide two annual scholarships to law students who are committed to working to end industrial animal agriculture, as well as a clerkship and other student support. This new MSL (Master of Studies in Animal Law, which is a degree for Bachelor’s degree holders who have not attended law school) scholarship opportunity builds on that giving, and Charles created it in celebration of his recent 80th birthday.
Charles says he was inspired to give to CALS because “The challenges to protect animals are stark, but students come from all over the world to CALS to gain expertise to protect farmed animals and to limit the spread of insidious industrial animal agriculture and to ensure that laws are in place to protect animals from abuse and brutality.” To shine a light on this brutality, Charles points to the importance of journalists and other content creators within the communication industry in raising awareness of the issues that he first learned of at that Animal Law Conference that he and Pamela attended years ago.
Of the new scholarship, CALS Executive Director and Assistant Dean, Pamela Byce says, “We are deeply honored by this gift from Charles and Pamela, and their continued commitment to our mission at the Center for Animal Law Studies. Because of their compassion and generosity, our passionate students who are pursuing careers as animal advocates are supported and empowered to create desperately needed change for the billions of farmed animals who suffer tremendously in our modern food system.”
The Charles Richard Anderson MSL Scholarship for Farmed Animal Protection will be awarded annually to an Animal Law MSL incoming online or in-person student who demonstrates both academic excellence and commitment to animal law. The Scholarship will provide $10,000 toward tuition for an MSL animal law student who wishes to specialize in or has a background in Print, Photo, or Video Journalism, or Digital Content Design and Production, and who is passionate about enlightening the public to the power of animal law in ending the inhumane practices of industrial animal agriculture, focusing primarily on the United States.
The first scholarship will be awarded to an applicant who will start in our online Animal Law MSL program in Spring 2025 (applications due by October 7, 2024), or in-person Fall 2025 (applications due by February 1, 2025). To apply for the scholarship, interested prospective students must complete all materials for application to our Animal Law MSL Program. In their personal statement as part of the application process, they should indicate that they are applying for the Charles Richard Anderson Farmed Animal Protection Scholarship and share their history and commitment to farmed animal protection.
The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law advocates and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter. CALS’ Alumni-in-Action from 30 countries are making a difference for animals around the world. CALS is a self-funded Center within Lewis & Clark Law School operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax exemption, and is able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.
