Alumnus Chooses To Leave Legacy During School’s 50th Reunion

Chris Latham arrived at Holderness for a post-graduate year in 1971, fresh off graduation from Princeton High School and acceptance to college on a football scholarship. Wanting to burnish both his academic and athletic credentials before taking the next step, a family friend and then trustee of Holderness suggested a PG year. Then, with two minutes remaining in the first half of his first football game for Holderness, Chris injured his knee, effectively ending his football career and landing him in the infirmary for several weeks and then in a cast for much of the fall. Not one to lament on his injuries, however, Chris went on to have a great and memorable experience as a then uncommon, one-year Holderness student.

As always seems the case with Holderness, it was the people that resonated most with Chris, from the initial interview, which included meaningful encouragement from Don Hagerman, to the careful ministrations of Doris Plaisted while in the infirmary, to the visits from Ibba Hagerman, Pat Henderson and Ki Clough while recovering. In fact, it was the uniqueness of both Holderness faculty and students that made the experience memorable, then just as it does today. And as is true for so many of us of any era, Holderness quickly became both a nurturing and challenging home away from home.

In 1980, Chris would return to Holderness as the first full time advancement director, ushering in a bright new era of alumni relations and fundraising at Holderness. In addition to raising significant funds for school projects over the next ten years (i.e. the Hagerman Center), he and his wife, Cindy, raised their children and were deeply involved members of the Holderness community at a critical time in their family’s lives. Then, after being lured away to serve a year at Dartmouth, Chris would happily follow Assistant Head of School Jay Stroud to Tabor Academy, where Jay’s Holderness-formed leadership was a natural extension of what they had all experienced while together here on campus.

On the occasion of his 50th reunion, Chris chose to support Holderness through the Balch Legacy Society. By funding a simple charitable gift annuity dedicated to financial aid, Chris and Cindy hope to emphasize the importance of ensuring that other deserving students will gain access to the Holderness experience now and long into the future. In Chris’ words, “As I think about it, the opportunity provided to me long ago by someone I’ll never know but who went before me, sparks the wonderful opportunity we now have to, in turn, pay that life-changing gift forward.” The Holderness way, indeed.

For more information about charitable gift annuities and other legacy giving options, please reach out to Tim Scott '73, Advisor to the Balch Legacy Society at 603-383-9318 or tscott@holderness.org.