Establishing Meaningful Legacies

Michelle Vergara ’14
“At Stetson, I find myself limited only by my imagination,” said Sophomore Michelle Vergara ’14 , the recipient of support from planned-giving gifts.

Sophomore Michelle Vergara ’14 had the fortune of creating her own major when she came to Stetson, not just because she is very bright, but because of the support provided to her from professors and from planned-giving gifts that partially subsidize some of her education – gifts like a Charitable
Gift Annuity.

“During my first two years at Stetson,” said Vergara, “I not only met my new best friends, I’ve had the benefit of engaging regularly with Philosophy colleagues and fellow debaters, and receive the best advice and support in the world from my professors. When I was having an identity crisis, my Honors advisor Michael Denner, associate professor of Russian Studies, told me something for it all to make sense. He said, ‘Don’t think of life as a straight path. Rather, think of it as a chessboard with each move opening up new strategies.’ To discover what I want to be in life, I just need to modify my strategies and really, just dare to create.”

Only in her second year, Vergara was a co-presenter at this year’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Arts Symposium Showcase. The topic of her discussion was An Examination of Rationality Within the Field of Behavioral Economics. “The cool thing about being a Behavioral Economics major,” Vergara said, “is that I not only got to take courses like Classical Economics, Business Marketing, Human Nature, Decision-Making and Irrationality, but I was able to contribute to some unique student-designed Honors 202 Tutorials including: The Philosophy of Harry Potter; Rational Decision-Making as Economics of Psychology; and The Mouse: the Cultural Impact of Disney and How They Make Magic.

“I’m here in search of an intellectual adventure, to challenge myself and to become a better person. At Stetson, I find myself limited only by my imagination.”

 

Charitable Gift Annuities

Gifts like a Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) provide meaningful support for Stetson students like Michelle Vergara. Donors can transfer cash or appreciated securities, minimizing the impact of capital gains, and receive guaranteed lifetime payments and an income-tax deduction. Remaining portions of Charitable Gift Annuities can be directed to a specific purpose or can be unrestricted, which supports the university’s highest priorities.

“I feel like I have been blessed in this life, and was always taught that unto him/her who much has been given, much shall be required. Because Stetson taught me ‘how to think,’ the primary reason behind my many blessings, I wanted to give back through a gift annuity.” – Peggy Runkle Curlin ’61 from Tampa, Fla.

For more information on CGAs, contact the Office of Gift Planning at (386) 822-7461,
[email protected] or visit stetson.edu/plannedgiving.

Read this and many other articles in SU Magazine, Spring/Summer 2012.