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Donor Stories

Donor Stories

The impact of giving through wills and life income gifts can be seen and experienced all across campus. In roommates who come from opposite corners of the globe to climb a mountain on a cool autumn day. In a state-of-the-art lab where a professor and students create renewable energy technology. In a dorm room late at night where students come together to establish a global nonprofit organization to empower people around the world.

Gifts like the ones established by the supporters below further Mount Holyoke’s mission to prepare the next generation for purposeful leadership in a culturally diverse world. Learn how you, too, can create a legacy at Mount Holyoke.

Investing in Mount Holyoke

Helen Davis ’76

Mount Holyoke equipped health care management professional Helen Davis ’76 “to lead, to question and to not be fearful about pushing back.” In honor of her fiftieth Reunion, Helen made a provision in her estate plan to create a scholarship at her alma mater that will provide future students with life-changing confidence.

Irene Marianos ’99

For first-generation college student Irene Marianos ’99, the seeds of enduring personal growth were planted at Mount Holyoke. By establishing a flexible charitable gift annuity that will one day provide her with a steady source of income, she experiences “a trifecta of benefit for my current self, my future self” and the College.

Susan Wait ’73

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.

Katherine Turner Alben ’69

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.”

Heidi Coutu ’79 and John Maturo

“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.”

Nancy G. Rosoff ’78

For former student-athlete Nancy G. Rosoff ’78, “being part of a team is magical.” She is helping to continue Mount Holyoke’s winning streak by supporting the Friends of Athletics Endowment in her estate plans and giving future students access to empowering opportunities.

Priyanjali Ghosh ’09

“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.

Carly Bidner Basile ’16

“Mount Holyoke raised me,” said 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 ’73

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

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.

Anne Vittoria FP’05

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

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.

Looking forward, giving back

Shelley Weiner Sheinkopf ’68

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.

KC Maurer ’84

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

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.”

Laura Bernstein ’65

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.

Ruth R. Barney ’68

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.

Judy Parker Stone ’68 and Kayla Samuel ’23

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

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.”

Rhae Kennedy ’81

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.”

Susan Bateson ’76

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

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.”

Susan Haas ’71

“Women’s education matters,” said Dr. Susan Haas ’71. “I would never have grown the way I did at a coed school. It was a critical formative experience.”

Mary Ann Villarreal ’94

“Mount Holyoke connected me to a world that gave me access to the impossible,” said 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.”

Many voices — one vision

Pat Kennedy Ascher ’60

“For any career, in any job that I wanted, Mount Holyoke was certainly a selling point,” said 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.

Catherine Russell Hammond ’65

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.

Laura Khoudari ’00

Mount Holyoke changed everything, said 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.

Diane Hashim Glynn ’68

“I would not have had this life without Mount Holyoke College,” wrote Diane Hashim Glynn ’68. “I have credited it, all my life, with my success and happiness.”

Keith Landon ’91

Keith Landon ’91 attributed 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.

Anne Bolton ’72

As a certified financial planner and a loyal Mount Holyoke alum, Anne E. Bolton ’72, the incoming chair of the Mary Lyon Society, walks the talk.

Cindy Tether ’72

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.

Robin Morse Edwards ’69

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.

Diana Brassard ’90

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.”

Ruth Rotundo Whitney ’66

A fourth-generation alum and distinguished social worker, Ruth Rotundo Whitney ’66 established a deferred gift annuity to provide income in her retirement.

Anne Marsh Fields ’71

“I turned out to be a different kind of a person because I went to MHC,” said Anne Marsh Fields ’71. Her bequest will help future students to experience their own transformations at the College.