For many students, college is an all-encompassing experience — an opportunity to expand their minds and develop relationships that last a lifetime. For Janet (Porter) Sepede, '86 BA Communication Studies, and her husband, Gary, '84 BS Finance, the experience continues two decades after graduation.
Their nostalgic stories of UNLV hint at changes both on campus and in their lives. When a friend introduced them in 1984, only a handful of buildings surrounded the Dungan Humanities Building and 7,000 students were enrolled.
As their college careers progressed, classmates became best friends, and best friends became wedding attendants. By commencement, several couples had emerged from their circle of friends.
Like nearly 60 percent of fellow alumni, Gary and Janet, both Las Vegas natives, remained in the valley after graduation. Her days at UNLV prepared her for a successful marketing communications career at a local hospital. He found his niche while studying finance and today runs a successful financial services office.
They never severed their ties to UNLV. Before they married in 1987, they signed on as annual supporters of the President's Associates program. "We knew we wanted to support our alma mater, but more important, our hometown university," Janet explains. They've also been ardent UNLV athletic fans.
Today, the campus has changed, but the friendships have remained. "Friends are a valuable part of life, and we attribute having those relationships to the opportunity to attend UNLV," says Gary. Janet adds that their circle of college friends is at the core of their continued involvement with the university. The Sepedes volunteer for fundraising efforts to ensure that current and future students have the same life-changing experience they had as undergraduates.
Their annual gifts through the President's Associates are building programs, such as physical therapy in the Division of Health Sciences, and funding dozens of fellowships and scholarships. After seeing their investment in the unrestricted funds program work for UNLV, they joined the Dean's Associates for the College of Business. This program provides Richard Flaherty, the college's dean, the flexibility needed to meet emerging student and faculty needs.
Last spring, the Sepedes hosted a reception at their house to encourage other alumni to support the President's Associates gift club and other annual giving opportunities. The event raised more than $12,000 in unrestricted funds.
This year, the Sepedes became members of the Annual Giving Council, a team of supporters who rally for annual gifts for campus and college programs. The Sepedes' friend, Jim Zeiter, '87 BS Business Administration, is leading the council's efforts to raise $1.8 million this academic year.
