Your ties to McGill don’t end when you exit the Roddick Gates. Just ask Michael Colson, Philippe Lette, and Kit van Tulleken.
All three graduates reside in Europe, and all have remained active with the University as volunteer members of McGill’s UK and Europe Regional Advisory Board.
Michael Colson, BA’91, MA’96, BCL/LLB’96, is based in Geneva; Phillipe Lette, BCL’68, is in Paris; and Kit van Tulleken, BA’67, is in London.
“There are thousands of McGill grads living abroad, and they all have a story to tell,” says Colson, now program director at the Edmond J. Safra Foundation. “McGill opened up my mind and my world, and volunteering was an opportunity to give back.”
Lette practices law at Lette, Lette & Partners, and he’s been an expat for many years now. He previously served on the Law Advisory Board, and received a Distinguished Service Award from the McGill Alumni Association.
“I’m proud to be a McGillian,” he says. “I don’t think I could have received a better legal education. Several of my closest friends are fellow graduates, and I have met many new friends through the McGill network.”
When van Tulleken immigrated to the UK after graduation, her McGill degree earned her “instant recognition – similar to Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge. It made a big difference in my life.” A strategy advisor and former BBC journalist, van Tulleken also volunteers on behalf of the Cundill History Prize, which McGill administers.
“There are thousands of McGill grads living abroad, and they all have a story to tell.”
In addition to their volunteer work, all three will support the University through bequests in their wills. Colson’s legacy gift will support McGill’s Greatest Needs, Lette will support the Faculty of Law, and van Tulleken will support the Dean of Arts Legacy Fund.
“I needed a will for various reasons,” explains Colson. “Once I began that exercise, it felt natural to think of the institutions that have shaped me. A percentage will go to three charities, and one is McGill.”
Lette established the Philippe Lette Fellowships in Comparative Law in 2009; his McGill bequest will continue to support his annual Fellowship, as well as the University in general.
For van Tulleven, “It was a no brainer. It’s very easy to do, even if it’s not a huge amount. As McGill grads, we’ve had an education that most people have only dreamed about.”
All bequests received in the year 2021 will be counted in the 200 for 200 Legacy Challenge, which aims to secure 200 bequests for McGill’s Bicentennial.
Leaving a legacy gift “was a small way I could contribute, and a powerful way to do it,” says Colson. “It’s the ultimate ‘thank you’ for the education I received and the experience I had.”
Looking ahead of McGill’s Bicentennial celebrations, “I think the University is very well placed to begin its third century. McGill’s plans are big, bold and ambitious, and as a graduate I’m very much looking forward to the ride.”
What will your legacy be?
McGill is celebrating its 200th anniversary with the goal of securing 200 legacy gifts. For more information, please contact us.
