When Debby Lind Mahony ’67 first met Patricia Mahony Hanson ’67 at Woodland Hall in the fall of 1965, she could not have predicted the impact her roommate would have on her life. 

Pat introduced Debby to her brother, Sean, when they visited Pat’s home in New Jersey. It was “love at first sight,” and Debby and Sean were ultimately married in 1968. And then a half-century after graduation, Pat re-introduced her classmate to Lasell by encouraging her to attend their 50th Reunion, and Debby came to appreciate her alma mater in a way she never had as a student. 

“If you told me in 1965 that I would still be involved with Lasell 58 years later, I would have been very surprised,” says Debby, who joined the Board of Trustees in 2020 after a stint on the Board of Overseers. 

Debby gives more than her time to Lasell. She has generously supported the University, including funding initiatives that address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, championed by Jesse Tauriac, Lasell’s chief diversity officer and director of the Donahue Institute for Equity & Social Justice. Debby also joined the Heritage Society when she made a planned gift. Her support of the University brings her great joy and satisfaction. 

“It feels wonderful to give back to Lasell,” says Debby, a retired pediatric nurse practitioner and former faculty member at Boston College, the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions, and the University of Massachusetts Boston. “I know that my support is meaningful and making a difference for Lasell students.” 

Debby admitted to not having the “best experience” as a Lasell student during the tumultuous 1960s, but gained a different perspective on the University when she attended her 50th Reunion in May 2017. 

During the weekend, President Michael B. Alexander’s strategic vision and commitment to Connected Learning resonated with her; she enjoyed meeting students; and she appreciated that when she peeked into the Donahue Center for Creative & Applied Arts and saw sewing machines and drafting boards that students were learning “something tangible.” 

“I came away feeling that Lasell is very well managed and works together to face challenges,” she says. “I am very happy to be connected with Lasell again.”