In the Spring of 2008, the Alumni Office posed a question to our Class Representatives…
“Why do YOU give to Thacher?”
Here are their answers:
Mandy Sonenshine Wynn CdeP 1996
I give because Thacher is the best! Seriously. Pride is my number one reason but also because of makes me feel connected and still a part of the community. Like that time on my life didn’t end when I left the campus. And because of all the amazing people I still have in my life that I met at CdeP.
Danny Sonenshine CdeP 1991
Because my sister does.
Seriously, because my Thacher experience had as much to do with who I am today as any other part of my life and because I made my best friends (my family excluded) there.
Cindy Liu CdeP 1998
To answer your question: I think the thing that drives me to give is 1) (actually finally making money!), and 2) To support both the preservation of the Thacher traditions and concurrently building Thacher’s future by recruiting bright students from disadvantaged backgrounds who would otherwise not be able to go to a good school and to inspire all the students at Thacher to carry with them the strong sense of fairness and integrity into the “real world”.
Josh Rosenblatt CdeP 1976
Thacher was – bar none – the most influential educational experience I have had to date (I’m still open to being blown away). I see how it affects young minds every year through what I read in the bulletin and the conversations I have with fellow alumni/ae. If there is anything I can do to promote that experience for someone else, I will do it – especially when it’s such a painless thing to do.
Bill Dawson CdeP 1972
I give to Thacher because the school left an indelibly positive stamp on me. My hope is that giving to the school will perpetuate the good work it does in having a dramatically favorable impact on those who attend and graduate. It helps that I see my son (Wils, CdeP ’09) grow as a person into a principled young man, capable of realizing his potential while changing the world for the better. Thacher makes a palpable difference in the lives of its students and, by extension, those they touch. That’s why I give to the school.
Auriga Bork Martin CdeP 1996
I give to Thacher because it is an amazing insitution that deserves to be supported. My time at Thacher was one of the most formative periods of my life and I am very thankful for the quality of education (on all levels) that I received there. I look at my fellow classmates, and what admirable fellow beings they are, and I want my children to one day be a part of something so special.
In this day and age when things like honor, respect, passion for knowledge, conversation and confidence are so lacking in the overall youth population, Thacher becomes all the more deserving of every effort to support and nurture its future success.
Jane Penny Knox CdeP 1966
Thanks for the great work that Thacher does for the world; with all the challenges ahead – global warming, nuclear proliferation, wars caused by food shortages caused by global over-population – with all those challenges ahead, all of us are going to need leaders who can THINK. Sure, I could send fifty bucks a month to feed a few starving kids in Africa. OR, I can send fifty bucks a month to Thacher in the hopes that one of your better thinkers can figure out how to feed all of us.
Kurt Huebner CdeP 1978
Because of my fond memories of my time at Thacher, my pride of having attended Thacher, and my desire for Thacher to continue to provide a top notch education and experience for current students.
Amy Vanderloop CdeP 2003
I give to Thacher because while I know that my small contribution ($100 or less) doesn’t do much besides pay for some light bulbs or something, I also know that it’s the participation percentage that counts. Schools (universities, colleges, other boarding schools) use the alumni participation percentage partially as a marker of how much we value our time at that institution, which then influences large donations and support from corporations and businesses. So, I figure that I’m at least helping out in terms of percentage.
Scott LeFevre CdeP 1975
I give to Thacher because I love Thacher.
Ned Lederer CdeP 2005
I give to Thacher because I had a very valuable experience and I want to make it even better and available to more people.
Diana Lewis and Liam Callahan CdeP 1984
My husband and I give to school because we love the place!
Now that we have children and are paying for the cost of private elementary school it becomes even more clear the importance of supporting these institutes. Large or small donations, we believe it shows our support of the school!
Lee Follett CdeP 1953
I had a good experience at the school, I know that tuition/fees do not cover the costs of an excellent education, I like my classmates and giving makes me more a part of our community, I have been previously and am again class rep so I need to set an example, and I am able to give, though at a minimal level.
Thacher is in my second tier of organizations in terms of amounts of gifts.
Alan Silbergh CdeP 1972
Association with a special place and lasting relationships does it for me, Suzie. If it helps a current student, faculty, or staff member a little bit in getting the same, I am glad to help a bit.
Leslie Sligh CdeP 2007
Currently I give to Thacher so that I can add to the stats of alumni who give, and help support Thacher’s image. Someday when I have money, I will give because I enjoyed my time at Thacher, and I want to contribute to the enjoyment of other Thacher generations. Additionally, I will donate money where I think it is needed… to support the very active and talented Equestrian team, because historically they haven’t received much financial support for the care of their horses and the expenses of running the team.
Grace Bueti CdeP 2004
Because I continue to believe that they can be a leader in sustainable educational institutions– they are moving awfully slow (all that green lawn and not ONE vegetable), but I think they might just get there.
Freeman Ford CdeP 1959
I give out of nostalgia, shared memories and a fundamental belief that education serves the greater good.
Eric Gross CdeP 1985
• It is a good cause — people are doing good work for little pay
• A good service is provided not only to people who can afford it, but also to the roughly 1/3 on scholarship
• I feel a sense of loyalty and indebtedness to something which benefited me
• I’m competitive and I like to be associated with a winning team
• I believe in the value of a good education (I’m a school Principal)
• I think Thacher spends my money wisely
• Nostalgia (I’m now officially middle-aged and have forgotten most of my teen-aged angst and remember most of the good times)
• tax deduction
• Thacher (still) teaches values that I think are important to impart in as many kids as possible
• A sense of belonging to something grander than myself
• I have a friend who works at Cate and I like to harass her about Thacher having a larger endowment!
Bruce Somers CdeP 1983
To Pay It Forward. I truly believe that Thacher changes lives and contributes to changing generations. It’s a good investment.
Dick Livermore CdeP 1964
but please don’t quote me, as I am bound by the Judicial Ethics rule that I cannot do fund raising. This is off the top:
The reason I give to Thacher is that I want to support the finest secondary school on earth … a place where solid life values (honor, fairness, kindness, truth), academic discipline and curiosity (the metaphor of “build thee more stately mansions”), environmental sensitivity, and physical and emotional health exist in a wonderful, all-inclusive package … a gift that stays with each Thacher graduate forever (“ours ’til life’s struggle is through”). The longer I live, the more I am grateful for that gift. One expression of that gratitude is to invest in Thacher’s future.
Peter Thacher CdeP 1984
That’s a great question. After lots of thought, I could not come up with a single reason to give, so I will no longer be donating to the school.
That’s just a humorous intro to a simple answer: because Thacher is a great cause.
That’s without ancestral bias, ask any of the teachers who knew me; while I attended, I dropped “Thacher” and went by Peter Hollister (my middle name). I was like that then.
I realize my answer is nebulous. Homeless shelters are a great cause. But, perhaps what sets Thacher apart is the experience – the nurture and subtle persuasion of character.
Thacher teaches students many things. However, in the grand scheme, the most valuable Thacher education may be of oneself and those around you.
There is a very real chance none of my children will attend Thacher. I hope that is not the case, but I still give, because it may help someone else’s child to have the Thacher experience. I guess I believe we need more people with a Thacher influenced character in the world. That makes it a cause for me.
Sophia Brown Twichell CdeP 1985
- those were very formative years for me
- I am still close to people I met at Thacher
- I don’t have the same connection to my college or grad school (those feel far more impersonal)
- Thacher is a unique boarding school experience – it has a strong signature
Bob Kendig CdeP 1967
1. I feel that my experience was positive and has an impact on my life, the school stands for good things, balance, excellence (those two can be seen in some contexts as mutually exclusive) and honesty.
2. One of my classmates put it somewhat differently when he said he likes to give to successful organizations and certainly Thacher fits that description
My limited experience with other non-profits has been very discouraging so it is easier to give money or time to some place where you can expect that the contribution will actually contribute to the ongoing value of the organization.
Claire Kendrick CdeP 1999
I give to the Thacher (moment here to say that I gave several years that somehow didn’t get into the spreadsheet, and that now I am on a hiatus from giving at times because I work here and thus feel I give to the community in non-monetary ways. but shall donate again in the future) because I believe in helping perpetuate Thacher traditions so current and future students can have the opportunity to experience what a great community this is, and which is something that they can share with generations before them.
Tony Arnold CdeP 1946
This is a time of straitened economic circumstances for this household. I sat down at the computer a few days ago with a list of tax deductible organizations that I’d like to support and the fixed total figure of give-away cash I was willing to part with. It was the wrong time of year for this, of course, December being the most logical time, but I really wanted to go about the process more logically than I ever have before. Besides, the peanuts one gets from interest-bearing investments these days are not worth the effort of calculating any profit or loss from the calendar.
There were 14 entries on my list, representing a cull from perhaps twice that number that I had rejected out of hand. Some I chose for support were mass organizations, such as the more reputable heart and cancer research outfits. Others were environmental organizations or worthy non-partisan political reform groups that I thought merited support.
And then there were four educational outfits: Yale, Thacher, Cumberland College, and the Sufi Islam Mayan Girls’ High School, in rising order of contribution. The first two of these were already the recipients of mammoth donations from other far wealthier alumni. The recipients were already rich beyond telling in comparison with the second two, and my contribution or its absence was statistically insignificant. Why, then, donate to them at all?
Well, in the case of Yale I gave a pittance of 50 bucks because it does the university good just to boast a higher percentage of donors among graduates, and I am probably more important as a statistic in that regard than any amount I could afford to give. Also, let’s face it — I do owe Yale a lot for the first-class education they gave me, much though I deplore Yale’s later political policies, admissions criteria, and other evidences of skewed orientation. I was a loner there, working my butt off as a scholarship/bursary student and fighting my way through one of the tougher majors, Russian Area Studies. (Out of a class of 1500 there were only three of us who chose that as a major, and one was a native Russian who took the course as a “gut” — i.e., the simplest he could find). I was no Boola Boola, and I finished with very few friends from that era of my life.
Where the hell is Cumberland College, and why give to it? WHAT!!?? Kentucky coal mining and dirt-poor farming country? What in the world would I have in common with it? Not a damn thing except huge respect for both a staff and student body that to this day I’ve never even seen. I’ve forgotten where he got my name, but the president of that college was on a fund-raising trip through California about 10-15 years ago and simply knocked on my door. Somewhat suspicious, I invited him in and heard him out, looked at his materials, and decided here was something worthy of support, where even a small donation could help. The school is patterned on what the old Midland School was like during World War II, where the students built their own quarters and classrooms, generated their own electricity on machinery they themselves made, and were generally self-supporting. (No, they didn’t end up with the academic credentials that a Thacher could give, but they always earned my deep respect, especially after I played soccer against them on their home field, a pasture replete with gopher holes and large, unforgiving rocks.) Cumberland College, with a student body stemming largely from bone-poor local families, is like that. The kids themselves do most of the construction and upkeep on their own campus, and during the summer they fan out to help the truly impoverished people in their region with things as basic as installing internal plumbing, new roofs and similar luxuries in the poor hovels that lack them. The kids are a tribute to their communities. I gave them $500, and wish it could have been twice that.
And what about the Sufi Islam Mayan Girls’s High School? It is in Kabul, Afghanistan, and came into existence only in the last year or so, more than 30 years after I last saw the country. I know of it only via the University of Nebraska at Omaha Foundation (UNOF), which supports Afghan relief in various ways. I approached UNOF last year asking for the best way of supporting exactly such a school. Again — why? Even more than was the case with Cumberland College, I wanted a target where my contribution would weigh more heavily than it would for wealthier beneficiaries. But why Afghanistan? Because I felt and will always feel the profoundest shame that we as a nation abandoned our responsibility to a people to whom we owe more than we can ever possibly repay. (If my book, The Fateful Pebble: Afghanistan’s Role in the Fall of the Soviet Empire, is still in the Thacher library, it spells out my reasons. Or, if you have not seen it, spend an evening at the movies when “Charlie Wilson’s War” is showing.) Among those who have suffered worst in Afghanistan from our reglect are the women, who are also persecuted most heavily by the Islamic extremist Taliban. I want to help as best a middle-class American can to redress that injustice.
All of which is a very long preamble to an attempt to explain why I give to Thacher. It’s less this year than before, yet the reasons for giving are just as strong as they ever were — it’s just that intentions don’t match present capabilities. So here is the list.
My own experience. My Thacher education came at a very rough patch in my life, when as the youngest of six kids I lost a father and a brother, and all but lost a mother so grief-stricken was she by the first two deaths that she was in despair. Then my dog that had become about my only personal solace died a horrible death from poisoning. With my other, older siblings scattered far and wide by the war, the school was my bedrock, just as it was for some classmates whose families had been disrupted for other reasons. Here is another debt that cannot be paid off.
What Thacher did for our own four offspring and a recently graduated grandson has not been on the same level as what it did for me (thank goodness), but it obviously gave all of them a healthy shove into successful advanced education and good careers. It is, of course, a hugely changed place, and my impressions are the superficial ones of an outside observer. If I have one concern, it is that the school runs the risk of becoming too big, too fat, too elitist. I guess I don’t really want it to become another Cumberland College or even an old-style Midland, but in a way I fear that the school is mirroring some of the weaknesses I see in this nation as a whole. I don’t advocate monastic cells for the student body, but a bit more austerity wouldn’t hurt. How about a little more Sparta and a bit less Athens? All that said, I keep contributing what I can out of residual loyalty.
Besides (and believe me this is not at the forefront, but it can’t help but play a role), the late Sherman Day Thacher was my maternal grandmother’s brother — my great uncle. He was a good boy. I’m glad he succeeded with that little school of his. No, I’m not half the man he was, nor yet of his brother-in-law, nor yet of the latter’s five sons, at least four of whom also attended Thacher
Whether there will be any more Arnold grandchildren to go there remains to be seen. Peter (’04? — I’ve lost track) will be staying with us for a few days starting next week, and I’ll be asking him how he views his Thacher past. By his commitment to returning for the school’s gykmhana events, I know he certainly has no regrets — and he certainly should have great gratitude for what he learned there. I’ll let you know what he thinks.
Ali Arastu CdeP 2004
Thacher played an invaluable role in making me who I am today by giving me several opportunities that allowed discovery of various passions, including the environment and medicine. The Thacher experience is due to the outdoor programs, the classroom, the dormitory and the students; if my donation in whatever sum can provide as rich of an experience to current students, I feel that it is more than justified.
Evan Bakst CdeP 1984
I give to Thacher because it played a critical role in my development as a person during my formative years. I have many fond memories from my experiences there and still stay in touch with some of my classmates. I take a lot of pride in the school and want the experience for students today to be as rich as my experience. I would also like to see Thacher become recognized as one of the top prep schools in the country. Colleges had very little perspective on Thacher when I applied to schools.
Bruce Peters CdeP 1965
I give to Thacher because:
1: The school stuck by me during some turbulent times during my school days, so I stick by the school. In addition, I feel the School gave me an academic preparation and an outdoor education that directly serves me to this day.
2: I had a chance to see the school from the additional perspective of a faculty member and better understand the support the school needs.
3: I saw the good preparation the School gave my (step)son Stone, and am grateful for the financial support he had as a faculty child.
4: I agree with the mission of the School (honor, fairness, kindness, truth) and the means the School uses to carry it out.
5: I particularly approve of the horse and camping program as formers of character. A horse requires thinking – force won’t work. A horse requires development of an ongoing sense of responsibility in care and use that helps an adolescent think beyond oneself. And both horses and camping teach one that the quality of one’s decisions and planning have very personal consequences – a useful bit of correction to an age and stage that tends to feel a bit too entitled by nature.
6: I have great faith in the quality of the school’s management team and its positive effect on the life of the school, which I had a change to observe closely and, peripherally, participate in for a year during my courtship of Li.
7: I see that the School has nearly a 50% participation figure in its alumni giving – very enviable – that shows that the School is perceived by its students as providing value to them over the long term.
8: These things cause me to bear the stamp of the school with pride, and are worthy of continued support.
Newie Hastings CdeP 1970
Thacher has been for myself and my children a “life changing” experience. As a result of these precious experiences, Thacher justifies not only my personal generosity but also that of my family. We may not be able to pay it back but perhaps with whatever contributions we can make, we can help to pay it forward.
Steve Sorrick CdeP 1962
1. Just love Thacher.
2. Support today’s students as alumni once supported me.
3. Support the development of tomorrow’s leaders.
(Aside: Thacher should consider ways continually to make students aware of a lifetime responsibility/duty to help lead the community (local, state, nation, world) to a better place (state of being, role, war/peace footing, …) however they would define it. Including: develop and deliver a course in Leadership to impart the knowledge and skills of explicit and implicit leading.)
Gillian Kneass CdeP 1991
I give to Thacher to say thank you; thank you for the amazing experiences, the memories, the support, the guidance and the friendships. I also give to Thacher so that others can continue to enjoy the same experiences I enjoyed.
Natasha Long CdeP 1991
I give because I’m a philanthropist; Thacher is my Number One organization to give to, and it shares my Top 10 with some other amazing organizations (I’m the Development Director for a mentoring program in Aspen, CO that I believe in 100%). I give because I choose my high school over my university and they’re both asking (Thacher had much more impact on who I am today than did Tufts). I give because I love the role Thacher played in my life; I love how Thacher contributed to who I am; I love the continued community I am rewarded with thanks to Thacher, I love the fact that I can say I went to Thacher, and whether it means something or not to the person I’m speaking to, it means everything to me. I give because my partner, a graduate of the Class of ’79, gives every year, and he can afford to give a lot more than I can, so I am consistently guilted into giving more! I give because it’s my responsibility.
I love the fact that giving to Thacher positively impacts the lives of children, and I love to give in the name of the people who are gone but whose lives impacted my own so tremendously (Bonnie Robinson, Aimée Klausler, Fred Lamb). But quite honestly, and maybe it’s because I don’t have my own children yet, I give because of my own relationship with Thacher, and not because I am contributing towards a better education for my childrens’ generation.
P.S. The ONLY reason I don’t give is because I lose track of time. Life tends to sweep us away with it.
Erin Blankenship CdeP 2000
I give to Thacher because the longer I have been away from my time there, the more I realize how formative, influential, and unique those years have been and will continue to be in my life. The attachment to those experiences and people is stronger than almost any other episode so far…and by giving back I hope to be able to support the idea that Thacher will continue to be ‘that’ place for many more individuals for years to come.
Ward Sorrick CdeP 2004
I donate because I believe in the things that Thacher stands for and I want the students and faculty who make Thacher such a wonderful place to have access to the resources they need. If I can contribute to the continuing of the traditions and operations that go on there day after day, I will do it in any way that I can. Donating money seems to be the most helpful thing I can do at the moment.
Elena Brokaw CdeP 1987
I give because Thacher changed my life, because I trust the school to make good use of my gift (i.e., to not waste it on inflated administration or whatever), and because the world deserves a haven like Thacher.
Eric Butts CdeP 2001
I give to Thacher because it has a special place in my heart. I could never put a price on the experience or the relationships I gained from going there but I want to do what I can to show some appreciation and hope to help someone else have what I had. It was lifechanging in so many ways I can’t begin to describe it. I’d love to do more and if I find myself in that position I will but every little bit counts. I think people across all age groups can agree they give to Thacher, at the very least, because of the memories.
Malcolm Plant CdeP 1971
Before having children I gave from a feeling of responsibility and obligation to Thacher for that portion of the good things in my life that have resulted from having attended Thacher. As my children grew older, I increase my donations with a thought that they might someday attend. My donations helped to make the school better and increased my connection and theirs to CdeP. Now that they have both decided to attend other schools, Berkeley High School and Marin Academy, I have focused my attention to these schools, working on the Berkeley High School Development Group Board, The BHS Lacrosse Club Board, and The Marin Academy Lacrosse Team. My feeling now is that these are more important to me and to my family at this time than Thacher. Consequently, my donations to Thacher have diminished. It is very clear to me that Berkeley High needs my financial contributions, particularly given the current budget crunch in the State of California. As my children move on in their school careers, Thacher will once again become important but for the time being, it is not particularly.
Having put this into words, there are probably others in my class who might be better suited as Class Rep for the Class of ’71. I’d be happy to step down at this point when you can find a replacement. You might consider Todd Oppenheimer.
Bryan Beckham CdeP 1974
Supporting a school which provided so many great school experiences, life long friends, and ongoing opportunities for my current life and business.
Maintaining the relationship with the school to be present as it changes, develops and grows
Expecting that I may still have a daughter who may be fortunate enough to attend in a couple of years
Enjoyment I continue to receive from alumni events, class gatherings, and Thacher correspondence.
Ákos Fóty CdeP 1985
In fact, I am one of those folks who did not donate much or regulary to Thacher. I have recently become involved as a rep and intend to be more regular in donating. I attribute this surge in interest primarily to my contact with my classmate and longtime friend Steve Lewis, coupled with a wish to help those who could not attend Thacher without financial aid (which would have been my case as well!).
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