In-N-Out in Westwood, California. Photo by Steve Beard.
According to the Whittier Daily News, Biola University’s film school will be named after a co-founder of In-N-Out. According to Biola, a Christian university in La Mirada, California, the unspecified but “significant” gift on behalf of Esther L. Snyder is the largest in the school’s 115-year history. It will help fund a $92 million 52,100-square-foot film school studio facility and establish the In-N-Out Burger Scholars Fund to support educational opportunities for foster and at-risk youth.
Esther Snyder, with her husband Harry, founded In-N-Out in Baldwin Park in 1948. She died in 2006, but left a long legacy of giving, according to the company.
The film school will be called the Snyder School of Cinema and Media Arts.
“Our family values the distinctly Christian education Biola University offers and are honored to play a part in continuing to offer students opportunities to make really impactful film pieces that change people’s lives,” Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson, granddaughter of Esther L. Snyder and owner/president of In-N-Out Burger, said in a statement released by the university. “God is a huge part of the In-N-Out story, and I have no doubt my grandmother would be grateful to know her name is associated with a school recognized for excellence in craft and character.”