When Otis College of Art and Design held its commencement for the Class of 2022 earlier this month, the announcement of a sizeable charitable donation marked a historical moment for the school and its graduating class.
The donation — made by Evan Spiegel, the CEO and co-founder of Snap Inc., and his supermodel wife, Miranda Kerr, through the Spiegel Family Fund — represents the single largest gift to Otis College since the college was founded, in 1918.
The donation, whose exact size has not been disclosed but exceeds $10 million, made the college’s May 15 commencement ceremony a landmark, life-changing event for the 285 graduating students when it was announced that the gift included paying off their student loans in full.
“Otis College of Art and Design is an extraordinary institution that encourages young creatives to find their artistic voices and thrive in a variety of industries and careers,” said Spiegel and Kerr. “It is a privilege for our family to give back and support the Class of 2022, and we hope this gift will empower graduates to pursue their passions, contribute to the world, and inspire humanity for years to come.”
Spiegel, who took design courses at Otis College before enrolling at Stanford University, said that the donation reflects the influence his time at Otis had on his creativity, career, and entrepreneurial pursuits.
While at Stanford, Spiegel designed and co-founded the social-media app Snapchat with two of his classmates and fraternity brothers. He went on to become the country’s youngest billionaire, at age 25, in 2015.
He credits much of his success to his experience at Otis.
“[Otis College] changed my life and made me feel at home,” Spiegel told students at the May 15 graduation ceremony, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I felt pushed and challenged to grow surrounded by super-talented artists and designers, and we were all in it together.
In 2017, Spiegel and Kerr, who runs the KORA Organics beauty line, created the Spiegel Family Fund, a philanthropic organization whose mission is focused on the arts, education, housing, and human rights causes in Los Angeles.
“The arts play a central role in empowering self-expression, celebrating our humanity, and inspiring our society to think in new ways,” Spiegel told the Times. “In a world that is increasingly focused on metrics, we seek to create a space for things that are harder to measure: imagination, creativity, and innovation.”
Spiegel, Kerr and Bobby Berk, design expert and Emmy-nominated TV host of “Queer Eye,” received honorary degrees at the commencement ceremony.
“Otis College is incredibly grateful for this historic gift from Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel, which will be life-changing for the Class of 2022 and their families,” said Charles Hirschhorn, president of Otis College.
“Student debt weighs heavily on our diverse and talented graduates. We hope this donation will provide much-deserved relief and empower them to pursue their aspirations and careers, pay this generosity forward, and become the next leaders of our community,” Hirschhorn said. “We know that for most of you and your families the sheer burden of student debt is a heavy price. We understand that this debt can compromise your future and limit your creative ambitions. We do not want to see this happen.”
Otis also will use Spiegel and Kerr’s gift to create the Alternative Loan Debt Repayment Fund, which will make charitable gifts to graduating students with similar educational loans secured outside of the college.
More than 90% of Otis students receive financial aid.
Otis College, the first professional arts school established in Los Angeles, is one of the nation’s most culturally diverse and top-ranked arts and design institutions.
Since it was established, in 1918, Otis has educated, trained, and mentored a diverse community of talent in both traditional established and newly emerging creative sectors – encompassing a variety of areas such as Communication Arts, Digital Media, Environmental Design, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Product Design, and Toy Design.
The school’s alumni and faculty represent Fulbright, MacArthur, and Guggenheim grant recipients, Oscar winners, legendary costume designers, leaders of contemporary art movements, entrepreneurs, and design stars at influential companies including Apple, Pixar, DreamWorks, Mattel, Nike, and Netflix.
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Otis College is ranked in the top 1% of Colleges and Universities committed to diversity and inclusion.
Currently, Otis College educates about 1,200 students and its dashboard of statistics reflect the school’s rich, culturally diverse environment, with 77% identifying as non-white and 30% as the first in their family to attend college.
Between its renowned, experienced diverse faculty and programs, the college is known for training its students to become highly skilled, well-informed, and responsible professionals, while inspiring, encouraging and empowering their students to explore and use their creativity to create, reinvent, design, and shape a better and leave their mark on the world.
