UNLV's literary center, Black Mountain Institute, announced a $20 million gift from The Rogers Foundation to further support creative writing programs and students. The Rogers Foundation initially pledged $10 million in 2013, now totaling the gift to $30 million. The gift is one of the largest to UNLV and the largest gift to support literary programming for the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute (BMI).

With the additional funding, BMI will expand its poetry and fiction curricula to include a literary nonfiction track and a new dramatic writing partnership with UNLV's College of Fine Arts. The gift will help hire new faculty and 15 graduate assistants.

Beverly Rogers, and her late husband James E. Rogers, a dedicated philanthropist and former Nevada System of High Education chancellor, founded the Rogers Foundation. James Rogers died June 14, 2014, at the age of 75. The Rogers Foundation's initial gift to BMI allowed the center to reinstitute its acclaimed City of Asylum program, increase support for existing Ph.D. and fellowship programs, and enhance its public programming and outreach.

"Few dollars flow these days to humanities and creative arts programs compared to other disciplines," said Carol Harter, UNLV President Emerita and Executive Director of BMI. "We are doubly grateful for the Rogers gifts and for having the wonderful Beverly Rogers as our dear friend and colleague."

The Rogers's initial gift also helped increase annual stipends for Ph.D. Creative Writing students to $25,000. Funds were also directed to foreign travel for MFA students; stipends for writers in the Diana L. Bennett Fellows Program; and underwriting for Witness, BMI's literary magazine, and its Rainmaker Translations of works not available in English.

Thanks to the initial $10 million gift, the City of Asylum program was revived to allow two writers each year. The program provides a safe haven for international writers whose voices are muffled by censorship or who are living with the threat of imprisonment or even death. It was founded in 2001 as the first program of its kind in the United States; since that time, several other cities have created such sanctuaries. City of Asylum Las Vegas alumni include Syl Cheney-Coker (Sierra Leone), Er Tai Gao (China) and Hossein Mortezaeian Abkenar (Iran). The gift also helps secure housing for the new City of Asylum fellows.

"UNLV aims to be a top-tier university in research, teaching and community engagement. This gift certainly does that," said UNLV President Len Jessup.

The donation will also spark competition among writers who can now compete for the Black Mountain Institute Prize, a biennial $50,000 award that will be judged by a panel of noteworthy and highly regarded writers. Additionally, funds will be used to help UNLV expand BMI's office space from 1,400 square feet to 4,500. UNLV's English Department and BMI will both be housed in the newly named Beverly Rogers Literature and Law Building in August 2015.

Members of the public are invited to attend the inaugural BMI Jim Rogers Contrarian Lecture May 7 with author Walter Mosley, who will speak on the subject of higher education, in UNLV's Student Union Ballroom.

Founded in 2006, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute at UNLV is dedicated to advancing literary and cross-cultural dialogue. Through public programs, residential fellowships, and publishing initiatives, BMI provides a cultural lens through which today's most pressing issues can be addressed and evaluated.

For more information, visit TheRogers Foundation and blackmountaininstitute.org.