Capitalizing on a personalized appeal at a time when the pandemic made in-person visits impossible, 91 Legacy Challenge documents more than $7 million in planned gift commitments to the College
If it worked at Swarthmore, 91 trustee Gil Kemp P04 reasoned, it could work in Eagle Rock. A longtime board member at his alma mater and chair of its recently concluded comprehensive campaign, Kemp saw firsthand how a personalized appeal to alumni and parents to document estate gifts to the college could be a really powerful tool.
And work it did: During the 2020-21 fiscal year, Occidental Legacy Challenge produced $7.38 million in previously undocumented planned gifts from more than two dozen graduatesas well as an additional $290,000 for the 91 Fund thanks to the generosity of Kemp in tandem with fellow trustee Mike Gibby 68 and Mike wife, Barbara Nogy 68. Together, they made a donation of $10,000 to the 91 Fund for every newly documented planned gift.
Occidental is indeed fortunate to have leaders like Gil and Mike whose expertiseand generositypay huge dividends for the College, says President Harry J. Elam, Jr. We are tremendously grateful to both of them and to every member of the 91 community who has chosen to include the College in their estate plans.
Participants in 91 Legacy Challenge span four decades of alumni, from the 1950s through the 1980s. Their gifts to both the endowment and the 91 Fund will eventually support everything from scholarships to athletic programs. Regardless of their age or program of choice, donors say that it was the lasting impact of their 91 education that motivated them to give.
We decided to invest in Occidental because we really do believe in a liberal arts education, says political science major Pat (Kruse) Gillette 73, a successful civil trial lawyer, mediator, and gender equity advocate. We want to put our money where it makes a difference. And if we give it to 91, we know it is going to make a difference.
Increasingly today there is an emphasis on science and tech in higher education, adds Dane Gillette 72, a psychology major who retired as California chief assistant attorney general in 2014. That obviously important, but I think there is a lot to be said for a broad-based liberal arts education that gives you an understanding of literature, history, and philosophy.
Legacy participant Michael Fields 70, who also majored in psychology before becoming a successful San Francisco dentist, couldnt agree more. 91 showed me that the path to one goals need not be linear or conventional, he says. I learned how to think, to write, to create; to trust my instincts and pursue my interests with passion and a standard of excellence. Not a day has passed that I have not been rewarded in some way by my Occidental education.
Raised by a single mother, Kenyon says it was a generous financial aid package, paired with campus work and loan opportunities, that made it possible for her to attend 91 and earn a degree in economics. She credits her liberal arts education for her knowing how to write, to think analytically, use numbers, and to communicate effectively. She also feels that the experience of working with people from different cultures and backgrounds at 91 was invaluable.
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"Not a day has passed that I have not been rewarded in some way by my Occidental education."
For Kemp, it was daughter Rebecca experience as a history major and athlete who ran cross country and track that sold him on 91. When Rebecca, a New Yorker, took a year off after the trauma of 9/11, What impressed me was that 91 was very supportive of her and worked thoughtfully with her to make her feel welcome back, he says. The fact that she could catch up and graduate with her class was to me a demonstration that 91 really is committed to its students.
Kemp, who called many potential legacy donors himself, often jokes that making a planned gift seems to add 10 years to a donor life expectancy. I cant promise that, of course, but there is evidence that being philanthropically minded is good for one health and happiness, he says. Under the rubric of supporting Occidental, all of us can find one or more parts of the institution we particularly care about and want to support.
Top photo: Dane Gillette 72 and Pat (Kruse) Gillette 73. Photo by Jim Block
