Allison Grebe '94 Establishes Retirement-Plan Gift To Sustain Her Support of SU

Allison Grebe '94 never intended to go to the same school as her parents, the late John Grebe '65 and Carole Sloan '67 Grebe Pursell. "I looked at a number of small, private liberal arts schools," Allison says. "I did an overnight visit and despite being resistant to attending the college my parents attended, I fell in love."

After graduating, Allison took a position at a small liberal arts college. "A few months in, I realized what I thought was my dream job actually wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," Allison says. So she called her SU advisor, Trustee Mary Cianni (a former business professor) for advice. "She told me there was an assistant director of annual giving position open at Susquehanna and she thought I'd be good at it."

Allison has made a gift to the Susquehanna University Fund every year since she graduated and has recently made SU the beneficiary of her retirement-plan account. "Choosing a career in nonprofit likely means I'll never be a 'big donor,' " she says. "I'll never have my name on a building or endow a full scholarship, but THIS I can do."

Half of Allison's planned gift is designated to athletics for staff professional development opportunities, and half is directed to the Sigmund Weis School of Business to support off-campus learning opportunities for students and/or faculty. "Alumni gifts made a difference in our student experiences, even if we didn't know it at the time," Allison concludes. "Today's students are smart and talented and ambitious, and they deserve our support."