Psychiatrist Susan Wait ’73 hopes that Mount Holyoke will continue to be a place where students feel “safe, empowered and supported.” This led her to name the College as a beneficiary of her retirement account and last year, she furthered her commitment by creating a charitable gift annuity using a qualified charitable distribution from her IRA.
“How do you keep someone engaged in the story — someone who may be sitting in the dark whom you may never see?” As a Mary Lyon Society member, Priyanjali Ghosh ‘09 is engaging with generations of Mount Holyoke College students whom she’ll never know but whose lives she will touch through her future bequest gift.
Through her family’s Mary B. Haberzetle Turner Charitable Remainder Unitrust, Katherine Turner Alben ’69 is providing a “life-sustaining” education to future Mount Holyoke students. “Mount Holyoke provided me an education that served me well for my whole life. It’s that simple.”
“Transformational,” is how Heidi Coutu ’79 describes her Mount Holyoke education. With a bequest, she’s proud “to nurture this place, where women from around the world can flourish and develop that fearlessness that is part of Mount Holyoke.”
As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Mary Lyon Society, we are proud to share the voices of some of these remarkable members.
“Mount Holyoke raised me,” says Carly Bidner Basile ’16. “It’s where I figured out how I wanted to engage the world.” Now, she has named the College as a beneficiary in her employer-provided life insurance policy to leave a legacy that will impact future students.
Dr. Victoria A. Cargill, whose distinguished career began on the frontlines of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, credits Mount Holyoke with “giving me wings.” Through her bequest, she will be paying it forward for future students.
Jane Zimmy ’74 describes her alum experience as being rewarding in ways that surpass her student experience. She’s cultivated Mount Holyoke friends around the world and made gifts to support the College’s increasingly diverse community.
After receiving a generous Mount Holyoke Fund scholarship, Anne Vittoria FP’05 was asked to write a thank-you note to the donor. She credits that request with inspiring her career path, as well as her own legacy gift.
Caroline Fuller Sloat ’65 recently created a charitable gift annuity honoring her parents. “They loved the College and were grateful for my financial aid,” said Caroline.
Upon retirement, Shelley found herself thinking back to her Mount Holyoke years and her lasting legacy. Her generous gifts will help expand the Art Museum’s collection of Judaica and enhance course offerings through a Jewish lens.
Trustee KC Maurer has honored beloved family members by making gifts to Mount Holyoke. Her goal: expanding access for a new generation of students.
Ellen Walsh ’85 — a principal program manager at Adobe — came to Mount Holyoke looking for a different experience. “I didn’t give any thought to it being a women’s college. But I got more than I ever imagined. Mount Holyoke was transformative.”
As a student, Laura never imagined someday being an active donor. Her arrival in South Hadley came in the aftermath of family upheaval. Increased scholarship support and an attached waitressing job helped her to make ends meet.
In gratitude to Mount Holyoke for expanding her worldview and inspiring her, Ruth R. Barney ’68 has left a legacy gift that honors her equally inspiring mother-in-law.
Meeting over Zoom to discuss the endowed scholarship fund that connects them, Judy and Kayla exchanged stories about Mount Holyoke’s impact on their lives.
Ann Hewitt Worthington ’72 sees parallels between today’s political and societal unrest and that of her campus years. “We don’t know how the current upheavals will play out,” she said. “Students need the flexibility to prepare for the unknown.”
Thanks to a scholarship, Rhae A. Kennedy ’81 discovered the campus gates were the threshold to another world. “Mount Holyoke challenged me to think differently and make connections. It changed my life.”
Inspired by the Laurel Parade the day before her Commencement, Susan Bateson ’76 started giving to the College right away. “Mount Holyoke transformed me. So I know it has the capacity and the ability to transform others.”
Catharine “Cat” Scheibner ’73 found her two lifelong loves at Mount Holyoke: politics and athletics. “I really believe in women’s education. There’s a huge difference when you’re in a coed setting.”
“Women’s education matters,” says Dr. Susan Haas ’71. “I would never have grown the way I did at a coed school. It was a critical formative experience.”
“Mount Holyoke connected me to a world that gave me access to the impossible,” says Mary Ann Villarreal ’94, the first in her family to attend college. “I give back because I felt like Mount Holyoke was my home and I want other people to find their home too.”
“For any career, in any job that I wanted, Mount Holyoke was certainly a selling point,” says Pat Kennedy Ascher ’60. One of her gifts to the College provides her a steady income stream and will help students explore careers in public service.
Having a mother whose first job after graduating from Mount Holyoke was working for Eleanor Roosevelt inspired Catherine Russell Hammond ’65 to a career of public service. She gives back via her IRA and a legacy gift.
Mount Holyoke changed everything, says Laura Khoudari ’00. It is where she came into her voice. And she brings that voice to her work today as a certified personal trainer who incorporates a trauma-sensitive approach to strength training.
“I would not have had this life without Mount Holyoke College,” writes Diane Hashim Glynn ’68. “I have credited it, all my life, with my success and happiness.”
Keith Landon ’91 attributes her “innate sense of confidence” to her four years at Mount Holyoke. Gratitude for her self-assurance is just one reason she volunteers and contributes today.
As a certified financial planner and a loyal Mount Holyoke alumna, Anne E. Bolton ’72, the incoming chair of the Mary Lyon Society, walks the talk.
Cindy Tether '72 credits the College for giving her "the strength, the confidence and the energy" to help make the world a better place. Her gifts of appreciated stock allow her to give back to Mount Holyoke while saving on taxes.
Mount Holyoke prepared Robin Morse Edwards ’69 to hold her own in a male-dominated profession. In appreciation for her outstanding education, she established a tradition of giving back to the College and added to it with a bequest to celebrate her 50th Reunion.
For Diana Brassard ’90, establishing a deferred gift annuity not only benefited her retirement plans, but also allowed her “to pay it forward so that Mount Holyoke women get the support they need.”
A fourth-generation alumna and distinguished social worker, Ruth Rotundo Whitney ’66 established a deferred gift annuity to provide income in her retirement.
“I turned out to be a different kind of a person because I went to MHC,” says Anne Marsh Fields ’71. Her bequest will help future students to experience their own transformations at the College.
The year after graduating, Paula Furlong O’Hara ’66 gave five dollars to The Mount Holyoke Fund. The next year she gave ten.
When Diane Miller ’86 found herself finally earning a paycheck after years of medical school, one of her first decisions was to invest — in her future, and Mount Holyoke’s.
Mount Holyoke boosted Ellen Archibald’s self-confidence and led her to new places. Her legacy gift will help future students to follow their dreams.
Susie Beers Betzer’s husband, Peter, pulled off a special holiday surprise for his favorite green griffin.
For Maria Mossaides ’73, the decision to establish a deferred charitable gift annuity wasn’t just about supplementing her income later in life.
“It means everything to me to give back to Mount Holyoke. I have always felt completely and totally in debt to the College,” says Zoe Hale ’67.
Linda Brandt Fritzinger ’62 is honoring Mount Holyoke’s commitment to women through a generous bequest. Her hope is that the gift will help sustain the College’s legacy of graduating students who believe in themselves.
Norma Barrett ’04 is determined to help Mount Holyoke continue to open doors for women who are defying the odds.
As a high school student, Cornelia “Connie” Griffin Farmer ’67 first visited Mount Holyoke in March of her junior year...
Donna Dube Hryb ’67, an Army veteran and retired social worker, credits Mount Holyoke with “opening her world.”
Judy Shepherd DeBrandt ’66 recalls seeing a T-shirt imprinted with the words “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.”
“A thirst for knowledge is a bridge to happiness and self-fulfillment.” To honor her mother, whose life epitomized this philosophy, Tsun-yu (Chinnie) Kwan ’54...
In these inspiring videos, four members of the class share why—and how—they support Mount Holyoke.
Julie C. Van Camp ’69 was a junior high student in Davenport, Iowa, when she first heard of Mount Holyoke, after stumbling upon ...
In her Mount Holyoke classes, Meg Harlor ’65, then known as Mickey Herz, always knew that her voice would be heard.
In July 1977, Linda Cadigan ’68 was a young mother in Hartford, Connecticut—and one month away from entering nursing school...
By age 30, Sarah A. Nunneley ’63 was the first woman to complete residency and board certification in aerospace medicine.
Though they didn’t know each other as undergraduates, Debby Hall and Jane Zimmy now share a bond forged through more...
Joo-Yun “Julie” Oh Ybarra ’90 believes that it’s never too early to start planning for retirement.
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