Like many The Big DIG donors, Sarita Gopal (A&S ’83) boils down her reason for giving to one simple thought, she believes she has a social responsibility to help others.
Gopal recalls the growth she experienced while at Pitt, she appreciates the high-quality education that set her on a successful path, and she is grateful for the scholarship support she received and wants to ensure others have the same benefit.
For those reasons and many more, Gopal endowed a student fund more than a decade ago and created a charitable gift annuity (CGA) with a more recent donation.
Income from a CGA can be an important and reliable part of the donor’s retirement plan, and the funds remaining after the last benefit is paid can be earmarked to undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, or any of The Big DIG priorities.
Gopal chuckles when she says there was no question in her mind that she was going to attend Pitt. Her mother holds a master’s degree from the University, and two of Gopal’s sisters also have Pitt degrees. She even married a man whose parents went to Pitt.
If there is one thing Dr. Gopal would tell the college-age Sarita, it would be to get out and experience campus life a little more.
She hopes her support allows students to have that full college experience. She also hopes it will increase diversity of all kinds on campus.
“I don’t just want to see legacy kids like me. I also want to ask, ‘Who else can come to Pitt, who else can we open the world to?’” – Sarita Gopal
Gopal says she knew students who were financially stressed while in school and knows that is still an issue for students today. And she salutes them for their hard work and perseverance toward their goal of obtaining a degree.
While Gopal’s annual gifts are supporting students today, it will be years before the fund created by her CGA will help students. But, as she explained, “Pitt is going to be around in the long term and to know that the proceeds of my CGA will be part of it … I know that something good is going to happen for those students.”