She Wants Her Estate Gift to Inspire Others to Do the Same
“I want to invest in Emory because Emory invested in me,” begins Rosemary Magee 82PhD, whose 40-plus years at Emory included teaching courses in English, interdisciplinary studies, and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies; serving as senior associate dean for resources and planning of Emory College of Arts and Sciences, as well as university vice president and secretary; and directing the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.
“Emory provided me with the greatest gift on earth,” she says, “a lifetime of opportunities to learn, to grow, to stumble, and to flourish.”
As a doctoral candidate in Emory’s ILA program, Rosemary was first inspired by the university’s mission to apply knowledge in service of humanity. “This is the very definition of a liberal arts education,” she says, “and still the foundational principle of the university.”
As an alumna who went on to join Emory’s faculty and staff, Rosemary made employee contributions from the very start of her career at Emory—first in small amounts to meet fundraising challenges, and then later, through MyEmory payroll deductions. “My personal and professional advances coincided with the growth of Emory,” she recalls. “So I was extremely fortunate to be able to express my gratitude by giving back.”
When she and her husband started preparing for retirement, there was little doubt whether they would include Emory in their plans. “Thanks to the guidance of our financial adviser, we were able to work toward a planned gift,” she says.
The wrinkle is in the decision to let Emory know about her plans.
At a university event, she spotted one of her colleagues wearing an attractive lapel pin and she jokingly asked him where he got it. “I’d like one of those pins, too” she said, “and he told me that he received his pin when he made a planned gift to Emory. Well, I had already made my plan. I just hadn’t told Emory about it yet!”
It was then that she realized the importance of making a planned gift, and of reporting it to the Office of Gift Planning.
“The real reason for making a planned gift of course isn’t the pin. It’s the importance of telling others about it. To serve as a guide. To inspire others who are similarly moved by the mission of Emory to follow suit,” she says.
As she reflects on her career, she could just as easily be talking about her vision for her estate gift: “So many great unexpected things have happened here, but it is not about the place alone. It’s about being true to what we say we do and having a space and a place for that to happen.” She wants her gift to provide future students with opportunities to fulfill Emory’s core mission in new and unforeseen ways.
“I want Emory to continue to enlighten future generations. Someone I’ve never even heard of or met will benefit from my planned gift,” she says. “And the reason I’m telling you about it is to motivate others to do the same.”