Why I Give

• What inspired you to make your first gift to Washington and Lee University, and what motivates you to continue giving?
• How do you hope your support impacts current and future generations of W&L students?
• Is there a particular experience, faculty member or program at W&L that played a meaningful role in your decision to give back?

Please submit your responses to Julie Jackson, director of advancement communications, at jjackson2@wlu.edu.

• What inspired you to make your first gift to Washington and Lee University School of Law, and what motivates you to continue giving?
• How do you hope your support impacts current and future generations of W&L Law students?
• Is there a particular experience, faculty member or program at W&L Law that played a meaningful role in your decision to give back?

Please submit your responses to Julie Jackson, director of advancement communications, at jjackson2@wlu.edu.

What inspired you to make your first gift to Washington and Lee University, and what motivates you to continue giving?

The Kathekon members were tabling outside of Elrod Commons my senior year and came running up to me in their matching blue shirts and said, “please make a donation.” I donated $5 because, at that time, I didn’t know the impact or the need for alumni donations. After I paid my $5, I walked to class and reflected on all the gifts that W&L had given me, and it was the start of a new chapter of my relationship with W&L. I had taken so much from W&L— the people I had met, things I learned in and out of the classroom — but I knew that my role going forward as an alum would be to continue to donate and pave the way for the classes to come.

How do you hope your support impacts current and future generations of W&L students?

The ability for W&L to accept students on a need-blind basis is something that really sets Washington and Lee apart, and that helps students get in the door. Once they’re students, there’s still a lot of need — food, study abroad programs, athletics, clubs. Continuing to give allows students to have the resources they need to explore their passions in and outside of the classroom, so that they don’t have any barriers to achieving their goals.

Is there a particular experience, faculty member or program at W&L that played a meaningful role in your decision to give back?

One of the things that makes Washington and Lee so special is that you’re not bound by just being a student. I was able to participate in athletics, traveling abroad and taking classes off campus. The on-campus organization that had the biggest impact on me was, without a doubt, the Outing Club. My first picture at W&L was of James Dick and the three upperclassmen who led me on my pre-orientation trip on the Appalachian Trail. Any nerves that I had about making friends were quelled when I saw the incredible upperclassmen who had great stories to tell about the people they had met, the organizations they were involved in on campus and how genuinely excited they were to have the next class on campus. Before I even returned from the trip, I knew I was in the right spot for the next four years. I continued to stay involved with the Outing Club and led Outing Club trips for three years. The funding the university receives allows everyone to participate in this beautiful area and really learn more about themselves through doing activities that aren’t just on campus.

What inspired you to make your first gift to Washington and Lee University, and what motivates you to continue giving?

Other than my parents, I owe whatever success I have achieved in life to Washington and Lee.  While it is debt that I can never fully repay, helping to ensure that future generations of students enjoy the benefits of a Washington and Lee education is the least I can do.

How do you hope your support impacts current and future generations of W&L students?

The educational opportunities that W&L affords its students — such as small classes, inspired teachers and a robust curriculum — are expensive.  Alumni giving to the university is essential if these opportunities are to continue.

Is there a particular experience, faculty member, or program at W&L that played a meaningful role in your decision to give back?

This year my wife and I decided to contribute to the Knight Endowment, which supports the A. Paul Knight Internship Program in Conservation.  Our son, who graduated W&L in 2018, was a Knight Intern, and the experience turned him into an avid outdoorsman and was the spark that launched his interest in water quality issues and a career in geology.

What inspired you to make your first gift to Washington and Lee School of Law, and what motivates you to continue giving?

I am a product of my parents. I was taught early in life to give back, and I do so with almost too many places where I dedicate my time. If I give time, I try to also provide financial support. What drives my continued giving is the school’s strong commitment to the Honor System, combined with my experience on the Law Council and my initial reasons for giving. In a world where so many parts of life are impacted by negatives, W&L — and in my case specifically W&L Law — remains a bastion of honor, integrity, collegiality and professionalism. I feel a true sense of duty to offer a hand up to the next generation of W&L lawyers so they might continue to inject those traits into the legal profession. I am able to do what I can now in part because of my professional success and as a legacy of my father’s, so it is important to support the students now and in the future.

How do you hope your support impacts current and future generations of W&L Law students?

Advanced education has gotten prohibitively expensive for too many in our current world. Whatever I can do that serves to allow the best and brightest to experience the W&L tradition, I am happy to do it. My hope is that if students arrive in Lexington ready to be sponges, then they will absorb and ultimately share those values that set W&L apart from other institutions.

Is there a particular experience, faculty member or program at W&L that played a meaningful role in your decision to give back?

My family history with W&L (both sides of the bridge) is important. I don’t hold it against the school that they would not consider me for undergraduate admission in 1977. I think about Professor [Roger] Groot, who I never had the privilege of having as a teacher, but who I first met when I was about 11 years old and played in a pickup softball game at an alumni gathering in Lexington and with whom I later played in a law school league. I think about Professor [Brian] Murchison, who called on me first in not one but both classes I had with him (he, too, interacted with me at alumni events I attended with my parents). I think about Professors [Ann] Massey and [Sally] Wiant who mentored me and taught me, then ultimately fed me as a result of the first-ever Phi Alpha Delta (service fraternity) auction. And, then Professor [David] Millon who referred a wonderful client to our firm more than 20 years after I graduated. I could go on, but the point is W&L has an amazing ability to build connections that last for years and years. The alumni network reinforces those connections across generations. I trust any W&L lawyer to whom I refer a client or another lawyer. That is a bond that is not replicated anywhere and one that is well worth supporting.

Visit the “Why I Give” page to read more responses from alumni, faculty and students.

Watch “Why I Give” video interviews.