$6 million from Kwame J. Granderson will endow Undergraduate Writing Center
Damon Cirulli
Kwame J. Granderson said he was inspired by the opportunity “to ensure that there is always a place for UCLA students to hone their writing and critical thinking skills.”
| May 19, 2026
At the heart of every education is the ability to write well — a lifelong skill essential for self-expression and success across disciplines. And since fall 2011, the Undergraduate Writing Center has helped UCLA students develop and strengthen each other’s writing through approximately 5,000 free, peer‑led consultations per year.
Now, a $6 million commitment from UCLA alumnus Kwame J. Granderson will ensure the Undergraduate Writing Center can fulfill its mission for generations to come. Housed in UCLA Writing Programs, a unit of the UCLA College Division of Humanities, the center has been renamed the Kwame J. Granderson Undergraduate Writing Center.
“My primary inspiration behind endowing the center was to ensure that there is always a place for UCLA students to hone their writing and critical thinking skills,” Granderson said. “Writing support of this kind is absolutely indispensable, regardless of what your major is.”
Granderson, a real estate attorney and developer, credits much of his success to his dedication to constantly improving his own writing. A first-generation college student who graduated with highest honors, he earned a bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA before earning a law degree from Harvard Law.
He has long been interested in helping young people become stronger writers. In addition to writing the book “Write to the Top: Learn to Write Like Your Best Professor,” inspired by lessons he learned as a UCLA undergraduate, he also founded The Granderson Writing Academy, a consultancy that prepares high school students for college and helps college students hone their writing skills.
“The UCLA College Division of Humanities is a powerhouse of humanistic knowledge, of global languages and literatures and self-expression,” said Alexandra Minna Stern, dean of the division. “This gift from Kwame J. Granderson will allow us to continue being of service to students from across the university.”
The center offers appointments in Kaplan Hall, Powell Library, the Transfer Student Center in Kerckhoff Hall, on-campus housing (Rieber Hall) and virtually. In addition, it provides subject-specific writing guidance through the Philosophy Writing Center and the History Writing Center.
One of the center’s defining features is its peer-to-peer model, where students serve as the peer learning facilitators. PLFs assist undergraduate Bruins with everything from lab reports and class essays to personal statements and scholarship applications. The individualized guidance they offer not only helps their fellow students strengthen their writing and their unique voices, but also helps the facilitators grow in their own right.
“Mr. Granderson’s support of the Undergraduate Writing Center will allow us to continue helping generations of Bruins with the demands of college-level writing,” said Tara Prescott-Johnson, director of the center. “After all, it’s a student-run center and a supportive community of student writers who are not only empowering each other to write better in their courses, but, eventually, in their careers and beyond.”
“This is crucial,” said Christine Holten, director of UCLA Writing Programs, the overarching UCLA Humanities unit that offers writing, communication and writing teacher preparation courses in addition to hosting the center. She mentored many PLFs during her tenure as the founding director of the center and can attest to its unique and transformative power.
“I know from experience that the value of this gift is inestimable,” she said. “It will ensure that the center can continue to extend UCLA Writing Programs’ mission of equipping students with strong writing and communication skills for life.”
Gensen DeLeon, a third-year history major, has been a peer learning facilitator at the center since summer 2025. Recently, she worked with a transfer student who was finding it challenging to adapt to the writing demands of her new academic environment. DeLeon said she saw the student’s confidence expand with each visit.
“Through our sessions, not only was I able to see her writing skills and confidence grow, it also changed how she shows up for herself,” DeLeon said. “Mr. Granderson’s gift to the Undergraduate Writing Center will make such a difference in the lives of students; it’s going to make their UCLA experience so much more meaningful.”
Now with its future secured, the Kwame J. Granderson Undergraduate Writing Center is positioned to empower generations of UCLA students to make their own marks in the world — in their own words.