For R. Scott Falk ’85, a bequest intention is a celebration: “It’s a final demonstration of your dedication and gratitude to Harvard, and it helps to ensure the College’s endurance.”
It’s also a way to make a permanent gift to the things you care about. “Nearly everyone who graduates from Harvard is passionate about something here,” he says. “If you want to support athletics, financial aid, or the library—you can do that through a bequest.”
Falk wants his legacy to reflect his steadfast support of financial aid. Born in Detroit and the son of teachers, he was a recipient of aid himself. He was grateful for the assistance, though the program at the time didn’t fully cover the extent of his need.
“To make up the difference, I worked twenty hours a week behind the circulation desk at Lamont Library, as well as other work-study jobs,” he remembers. “After I graduated, I thought, if anything can be done to give future students the freedom to experience Harvard more fully, to relieve them of having to juggle academics and extracurriculars with term-time work, then I want to play a part in that.”
Falk now lives in Winnetka, Illinois, with his wife, Kim, and their two children, and works as a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago.
He and Kim are thrilled to hear from students who have benefited from previous gifts, made in celebration of Falk’s 25th and 30th reunions. “We get letters of thanks every year, which is so meaningful,” he says. “And they really motivate me to continue my support.”
For the same reason, he volunteers for the Class of 1985 as its John Harvard Society chair and encourages his classmates to make bequests to their alma mater. “We all gained an enormous amount from Harvard,” he says. “It’s certainly not too early for graduates in my generation to be thinking about a legacy gift. It’s the perfect capstone to a lifelong commitment to Harvard.”