Washingtons' Humble Beginnings Inspire Them To Give

They lived outside Missoula in a cabin with no running water, made her $300-a-month teaching salary stretch to cover the bills -- which included $2,500 in student loans -- while he took out a $30,000 loan to buy a bulldozer and grader and start his own construction company.

Dennis and Phyllis Washington's lives have changed dramatically since they married in 1964, but they've never forgotten their humble beginnings -- especially when the businessman and his wife give to The University of Montana, where Phyllis graduated from the School of Education.

"Obviously, Montana means a lot to us," Phyllis says. "It's where we grew up, and it's where we raised our children. It's important to Dennis to give back to where he got his start, and we feel we can make more of a difference there than we could donating to a lot of national things."

The impact of their generosity on UM is almost incalculable. And no dollar figure can be attached to the hundreds of hours Phyllis has volunteered to help her alma mater raise money from other donors. She chaired UM's last capital campaign, which raised almost $72 million.

The Washingtons' first major gift -- $1 million in 1985 -- enabled UM to build Washington-Grizzly Stadium, and since moving in, the Grizzly football team has had 20 consecutive winning seasons, made an unprecedented 13 straight trips to the playoffs and brought home two national championships.

But imagine the effect they've had with the Horatio Alger Scholarships. The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and the University annually fund a hundred $5,000 scholarships given to needy students who graduate from Montana high schools and want to pursue a degree at UM or one of the campuses under the UM umbrella. "

That stems from Dennis's rags-to-riches story," Phyllis says of their support. "The students selected often have a major adversity to overcome, and that's why Dennis feels strongly about that."

Phyllis, the former school teacher, is excited about their latest gift to UM's current capital campaign a $6 million donation, half of which will help fund construction of an education technology center for the School of Education.

The other $3 million is for scholarships and graduate fellowships."We have been fortunate," Phyllis says, "but if things hadn't turned out this way, I'd still be in the classroom. Education is very important to both of us, and we're thrilled to be able to help the School of Education.

"For the Washingtons, says School of Education Dean Paul Rowland, it's not about the money they give. It's about the people they help.

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