Class of 1972 Sets Record with Reunion Giving

September 27, 2022 | By: Wendy Schneider
Class Scholarships Feature

The Texas Law Class of 1972 celebrated its 50-year reunion in grand style, as these alumni leaders surpassed the milestone needed to create an Endowment for Excellence Scholarship. Not only did they accomplish this laudable goal, but they did so in an impressive fashion, setting the record for the most money raised in a single reunion cycle. At the start of the cycle in September of 2021, the fund had $20,000. In a short eight months, class members donated $189,000 to push the total well past $200,000.

Every five years, Texas Law’s honored alumni enjoy class camaraderie by attending reunion events and also supporting students at their alma mater. During the reunion cycle—from fall to April—class committees rally their fellow alumni to grow their class scholarships.

The Class of 1972’s reunion committee was chaired by Fred Hagans, a founding attorney with the firm Hagans Montgomery Hagans.

The class party held in April attracted 70 alumni and guests, marking the largest-ever turnout for a diamond reunion.

“The success of our fundraising is simply the character of the members of the committee,” said Hagans, who is a double Longhorn, having also earned his B.A. degree in psychology from UT Austin. “Each of them had a great respect for UT and the legal education they received.”

Hagans explained how the group found a sense of community and purpose by setting goals and working together on strategies to reach those goals. Throughout the year, the committee became more and more motivated. “And, the members were competitive, individually and as a group,” he said. “As larger gifts came in, we leveraged their effect on motivation and increased our goal.” Hagans also shared that the committee members embraced the challenge of helping future law school students mitigate the cost of tuition.

Other committee members were Professor David Anderson, Bob Collie, Berry Crowley, William Dabaghi, Romulo “Romy” Diaz, Richard Gump, Michael Kentor, Peter Kumpe, Catherine McCulley, Hugh McCulley, Gary Nickelson, Roland Sledge, Martha Smiley.

They felt a really strong urge to give future students what they had—a world-class legal education, without world-class debt.

Lorraine Sarles ’09

“The Class of 1972 knocked it out of the park in its reunion year scholarship fundraising,” said Lorraine Sarles ’09, Director of Alumni Development, Reunions for Texas Law. “The committee’s willingness to reach out to classmates, encouraging them to contribute was impressive. They felt a really strong urge to give future students what they had—a world-class legal education, without world-class debt.”

The call to support the Class of 1972’s reunion scholarship campaign was answered by 106 classmates, who contributed an average of $1,655.

The Class of ’72 celebrated its 50th anniversary in person as well as through their generosity. The class party held in April attracted 70 alumni and guests, marking the largest-ever turnout for a diamond reunion.

Recruiting talented students and providing them with a world-class education continues to be a top goal for Texas Law, and scholarships are critical to this effort. A class’s legacy is firmly established when its members join forces to reach the level needed to create a class scholarship. The 1972 class is one of 40 alumni classes that have reached the threshold needed to create an endowed scholarship.

Thank you to the members of the Class of 1972 for strengthening your legacy to support Texas Law students for years to come.

View this story was featured in the 2022 Recognition Report.