Stopher Bartol '88 and his wife are dedicated annual supporters of the economics and management department at Beloit College. They are also happy to have made a bequest to the College in their will because they believe in the life-changing impact Beloit has on students and the world.

When most people would be diligently putting money into their 401(k) plans, Harvey'71 and Cher Black Simer'71 found a way to increase their giving to Beloit College and save for retirement.

William'39 and Barbara Brown Bachmeyer'38 were trailblazers in their support of Beloit College. They were the first alumni to participate in the charitable gift annuity program of Beloit College when it began in 1997.

Joan and Dick Niemiec’65 established the Edwin F. Wilde, Jr. Distinguished Service Professorship to support the College and to honor a favorite professor and lifelong mentor and friend.

“We considered funding the chair solely with cash gifts,” explains Niemiec, a retired health insurance executive who joined the College’s Board of Trustees last fall and is currently Beloit's interim president. “But we worked with our financial planner and the College to develop a gift plan that includes an insurance policy, thereby significantly leveraging the power of our gift. Beloit and future generations deserve the additional support.”

“The College contributes so much to the quality of life in the Beloit community. It plays a significant role in recruiting top-level executives and professionals to the area,” said John Eldred'52, former president of First National Bank and Trust Company. “It is our strong obligation to support it.”

John Eldred’52 was the third generation of his family to lead the bank that was founded in 1882, and John and his wife, Helen Macklem Eldred’52, followed the footsteps of their parents and other relatives (going back to the class of 1917) by gaining an education at Beloit College. John has since passed away, and today their son, Steve, carries on the family business tradition as president.

“The tax advantages and the income for my wife and I were factors in selecting a gift annuity,” said Peter Kostantacos’48. “But equally important, however, was the gift to the College. I’ve always wanted to do something more substantial than my annual giving.”

Beginning in 1955, Kostantacos provided steady financial support to Beloit on an annual basis. To honor his 60th reunion, he decided to make a much bigger statement. He transferred ownership of common stock shares to establish a sizable charitable gift annuity to benefit Beloit College.

Virginia Olga Skinner’49 established the Ralph C. Huffer Professorship to honor Prof. Huffer's excellence in teaching and advising. It also gave her the satisfaction of seeing important facets of her own Beloit experience replicated for new generations of students.

“I am very happy to have Prof. Huffer recognized for the remarkable person he always was,” said Prof. Skinner, who was herself a mathematics professor for over 41 years. “He was always my favorite professor. He made mathematics fun. Because of his teaching, I found all later applications easy.”

“Our senior class felt very strongly about what our class gift should accomplish,” says class gift co-chair Laura Grube’08. “We identified an area of need where our gift could supplement College resources and directly benefit students.” The class of 2008 raised more than $25,500 to create the Off-Campus Education Endowed Fund.

The Off-Campus Education Endowed Fund will support off-campus study, which includes both domestic and study abroad programs. More than 40 percent of this year’s graduating class has participated in an off-campus study experience. "We all know classmates whose education has been greatly enriched by these opportunities and we wanted to help keep that spirit going," says class gift co-chair Nik Schuetz'08.

David Kassing'55 says his reason for the gift is simple. "My Beloit education gave me an excellent basis for my professional career, and the gift of the poetry books was but a small signal of my appreciation."

A collection of childhood memories is connected with an $85,000 poetry collection that has found a home at Beloit College.

Jared Dornburg'61 believed that every success that came to him was owed to Beloit College.

When the late Jared Dornburg’61 stepped onto Beloit’s campus, he made a leap into a wider world. He was among the first Beloiters to study abroad with the advent of the World Outlook Program, Beloit’s precursor to today's International Education program, and his 35-year career in international banking took him around the world … and back to Beloit.