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Donning her graduation gown, Kylie Therrien ’25 stood behind her mother, Kate Jenkins Howard ’99, and grandmother, Barbara Jenkins ’92L, for the Washington and Lee University ritual of the legacy family photo on the morning of undergraduate Commencement. With four classmates standing beside her and their relatives sitting in front of them, the moment captured the common thread through generations, as Washington and Lee University alumni welcome their relations into the W&L alumni family.
When Therrien later walked across the stage to receive her Bachelor of Science in earth and environmental geoscience diploma, she, Howard and Jenkins officially became the first female triple generation legacy in W&L history.
“It’s a very nice little bow to the whole present of my time being here,” said Therrien.
Jenkins started it all by accidentally walking into the Washington and Lee University School of Law library when trying to find the front entrance. At the time, she had been auditing classes at the University of Virginia’s law school, which always kept the library doors locked and “guarded like a vault,” according to Jenkins.
“So, I quickly ran upstairs to the front desk, and I said, ‘You know, your door is open,’” Jenkins said. “And [the librarian] said, ‘It’s always open, dear.’ So, I knew it was a special place.”
Jenkins had previously worked as a CPA and earned an MBA at Simmons University (previously Simmons College) prior to having her four children. But she always loved the study of law and started wondering if she should explore it as a second career. As an Albemarle County, Virginia, resident, she applied to law school at UVA in the late 1980s after sitting in on a few classes. But the dean of the law school at the time told Jenkins he didn’t think it would be appropriate for a woman with four children to attend law school and removed her application from consideration.
That serendipitous twist of fate brought Jenkins over the mountain to Lexington, Virginia, and kicked off a family tradition of attending W&L. Jenkins clerked for U.S. District Judge James Harry Michael Jr., in Charlottesville, and went on to open her own law firm, Jenkins & Jenkins – practicing in criminal law and in special education and juvenile law – and was admitted to the Supreme Court to practice by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
“I think it's amazing that women have come so far in my lifetime, and I'm so proud of my family helping to raise that banner,” Jenkins said. “There weren't that many women in my law class, but that's changed. I wouldn’t have done what I've done in my life without W&L. I'm very grateful.”
Although Howard and her brothers visited during Parents Weekend – with Jenkins showing her young brood all her classrooms – it wasn’t until her own college search and subsequent tour around campus that she decided W&L was her place as well.
“Walking on campus, it was like, ‘I'm done,’” said Howard. “I got home and whipped out the typewriter and did my application early decision for W&L.”
Howard majored in art history – with an affinity for Renaissance art – and was a member of the cross country and track & field teams. After graduating, she earned her master’s in teaching and went on to teach in public schools in San Diego, eventually specializing in special education. When she returned to the East Coast, she earned her Ed.S. from UVA and then her Doctor of Education from Liberty University. She now works as an instructional compliance coordinator for the Richmond Public Schools in Virginia.
While Howard admits to buying a W&L onesie for Therrien when her daughter was born, she didn’t pressure her to apply to her alma mater. They attended the MAZE summer program to learn about the admissions process, and when it came time to decide on where to go, Therrien ultimately chose W&L.
Therrien made W&L her own, majoring in earth and environmental geoscience, but there were some uncanny connections to her mother. Therrien connected with the members of Chi Omega and ended up pledging to the sorority, the same sorority Howard joined. In addition, Therrien’s senior year apartment was the same one Howard lived in off-campus – something they didn’t find out until after Therrien signed the lease. And Therrien took a Spring Term class with George Bent, the Sidney Gause Childress Professor in the Arts, who was Howard’s art history adviser.
“My mom's like, ‘You've experienced things I have, but you've also had your own experiences that are different. You've made W&L your own school,’” said Therrien. “We all went to the same school, but we're still doing very different things.”
Therrien is taking a gap year before applying to graduate school in geology. As her daughter embarks on life outside of Lexington, Howard feels confident that Therrien will thrive in any community because of the soft skills W&L provided in the Honor System and Speaking Tradition.
“They teach you values that you don't necessarily recognize the importance of when you're in your early 20s,” Howard said. “These are things that people would go, 'Oh, it's because you went to W&L and have the Honor System; that's what makes you a person with a lot of integrity and character.’ When your foundational educational experiences are rooted in those values, then when you run across a new ethical quandary – such as what's going on with A.I. – you're part of the solution to how do we use that in our society in an ethical and moral way.
“I don't want to speak for Mom, but I know she felt the same way, where it’s like, ‘OK, W&L did a great job with Kate; now we’re going to see what kind of cool things happen with Kylie,’” she added. “That’s what’s one of the great things about W&L, that it is what you make of it. It can be three different experiences, even though we were all on the same campus, in a lot of different ways. There are lots of ways to take what W&L is and use it for however works best for you and the path.”