University Trustee Elizabeth Vanderslice '86 and her husband, Peter '86, have long supported their alma mater annually, but they recently created a legacy gift for Boston College that both secures BC's long-term success and lets them leave a lasting mark at the Heights. As a member of her 25th Reunion Committee, Vanderslice played a key role in her class's record-setting legacy giving initiative and shares her perspective here:

How do legacy gifts ensure BC’s bright future?
Boston College benefits from the financial flexibility that comes with this dependable resource stream—propelling BC forward through gifts that create scholarships, support faculty research, and enhance student programming. For the University to continue to grow, we need to close the legacy giving gap between BC and peers like Brown and Georgetown, as well as Notre Dame, which receives 17 times the number of bequests annually as BC.

Why was a legacy gift a logical choice for you?
My husband and I learned that making a legacy gift didn’t have to be complex or time-consuming. We simply named Boston College as a partial beneficiary of our retirement plan, which offered us an easy way to strengthen BC while expressing our abiding appreciation for all the University has done for us.

What is one thing everyone should know about legacy gifts?
There is a misconception that legacy gifts must be large and established exclusively by wealthy alumni. In reality, participation at any level is what is vital. Any individual, at any point in his or her life, can create a legacy gift. During my reunion, I saw firsthand that we can change the culture of estate giving. We were able to achieve a record-setting number of gifts because everyone knew theirs mattered.

Learn more about legacy gifts.