Support for the Most Important Places

Bill and Debbie Bray Mitchell ’79 have included Colby-Sawyer in their estate plans in addition to giving annually.

by Beth Cahill

Debbie Bray Mitchell ’79 and her husband, Bill, have a partnership: They believe it is important to support the places that are important to them, and they feel a responsibility to make a difference. For Debbie, who was deeply involved with the organizations that affected her children as they grew up, now is the time for Colby-Sawyer. Bill is 100 percent behind that decision.

Debbie explains that over the past 10 years, as her four children finished school and moved away from home, she has had time to think about the places most important to her. She joined the President’s Alumni Advisory Council in 2008, and in doing so came to know President Tom Galligan.

“Colby-Sawyer’s leadership is amazing,” she says. “Tom Galligan’s enthusiasm is infectious, and you can feel it everywhere. I like the direction the college is going. It’s staying small and also modernizing.” As Debbie has become more engaged, she has reconnected with classmates and reflected on some of the teachers who most influenced her. She recalls Dr. Margaret “Marnie” Kurtz, who helped her understand that a young woman could be a wife and mother and also have a career. “She changed my thought process,” Debbie says.

The Mitchells have always been loyal supporters of the Colby-Sawyer Fund. In recent years, they have also provided leadership support to the turf field project, and made a decision to include the college in their estate plans. As Bill says, “You have a chance to be directional about where your life savings go by making bequest provisions. We felt it was important to carve out support for the institutions important to us.” Debbie agrees, noting that their planning has the additional benefit of making it easier for their children to settle their estate.

Debbie and Bill like to support athletic programs and have done so throughout their married life. When Athletic Director Deb Field McGrath ’68 was heard musing about someone to match her own gift to help the college build a turf field, the Mitchells saw a chance to “double” their gift. They wanted to help Deb McGrath achieve her mission of giving students the best possible experience at college. Debbie said she looks to the college to determine funding priorities, and is happy to help make them possible.

Bill has supported his own schools, Dartmouth College and Phillips Exeter Academy, and has become increasingly involved. “I believe we have to keep our country competitive by helping education,” he says. “Giving students an opportunity to learn outside of the classroom with adults and peers is useful to creating the team players our country needs. Colby-Sawyer and Dartmouth both support so many ways for students to interact with each other. That training differentiates our alma maters.”

“Giving is easy, it’s fulfilling, it feels good and it makes a difference,” Debbie says. Bill agrees, adding that, “It’s never too late to get actively involved with supporting your college. It’s a great way to reconnect with people and pass along value and experience to the next generation. If everyone supported their own college, our country would be in great shape!”

Beth Cahill is the vice president of advancement.