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To truly understand why Bryan ’78 and Jane “Pinkie” Hutcheson Chace ’76 have decided to give back to Rollins through an endowment and their art collection, let’s spend some time in 1978, which for them is a montage of unfaded milestones. In May, Bryan graduated from Rollins. Five months later, he married Pinkie, his college sweetheart. After the wedding, despite hopes of anchoring themselves in Winter Park, the newlyweds moved to Bryan’s hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.

At this point in their story, where it’s fashionable to say, “and they never looked back,” the exact opposite is true.

“The job market in advertising was very limited and hard to break into in the late ’70s,” says Bryan.

“It’s all worked out,” adds Pinkie, “but there’s no telling what we might have done back then if there were as many opportunities in Central Florida as there are now.”

Nearly 50 years separate then from now. There are 590 miles between Birmingham (where the Chaces still live and work) and the Rollins campus. It’s obvious, however, that the connections are as tightly woven into their daily lives as ever when they talk about the lessons, the friendships, and each other.

“Rollins gave us some of the best years of our lives,” says Bryan. “The memories are still clear and the feelings are incredibly strong.”

No memory is stronger than the night Bryan, then a sophomore, went out with a group of friends visiting from Vanderbilt and met this senior, a girl everyone called Pinkie.

“I have never called her Jane,” says Bryan. (For the record, a delivery room nurse came up with “Pinkie” when she saw the copper-penny red hair, and the nickname stuck.) “We talked for a long time and set up a date for the following night.”

The dating stretched for two years. Bryan and Pinkie would play tennis daily. They’d walk to Brandywine’s on Park Avenue for lunch and go to the beach on weekends. When Pinkie enrolled at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota for postgraduate work, she’d hit I-4 every Friday afternoon and meet Bryan in Winter Park. All along, and unknowingly, both of them were also building foundations for successful careers in advertising despite their different majors and goals.

Bryan studied business and English. “I initially had aspirations to be a club tennis pro.” Pinkie studied painting and art history. “I wanted to work in an art gallery,” she says. “We had innocent dreams.”

Through the liberal arts education at Rollins, they were able to adapt those dreams. Internships and study abroad programs enabled them to work with diverse groups of people in the real world. By the time the montage of 1978 came around, Bryan and Pinkie were ready to excel wherever they could find opportunities. Birmingham became the “where.”

For the next several decades, Bryan would work as a writer and creative director for ad agencies, magazines, and for his own company. In 2017, he merged his talents with his passion for giving back and began working for the United Way of Central Alabama. Pinkie, after earning promotions to senior art director for several agencies, also shifted into something she’d wanted to do for years: earn a master gardener certificate. Five years ago, she started her own horticultural business.

“I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do all that I’ve done if it weren’t for my experiences at Rollins,” she says.

There’s the connection again. It helps that Bryan and Pinkie visit Winter Park almost every year and spend time on the campus that still feels like home.

“Times change and styles change,” says Pinkie, “but the character of Rollins that meant so much to us is the same.”

That’s what came to mind in early 2024 while they planned a trip to Egypt.

“We needed to update our wills before leaving,” says Bryan. “We’d never figured out how to structure a bequest, but we did know we wanted to make a contribution to Rollins—one that in theory can live in perpetuity and establish a legacy.”

After several conversations with the planned-giving team at Rollins, the Chaces received an email with final details during a layover in Rome on their way to Egypt. There in the airport, they signed the document before boarding their flight to Cairo.

Their gift to Rollins sets up a generous endowed fund to help students in Rollins’ art and English departments experience learning opportunities outside the classroom. Bryan and Pinkie are also assured that Rollins will use their art collection for a combination of exhibition, teaching, and to be auctioned so proceeds can go back into the endowment. Even their pop art, some of it created by designers of album covers, sparks vivid reminders of Rollins.

“It’s easy to remember the art and the music,” says Bryan. “The minute you walked into your dorms, you’d open the windows, plug in your stereo, and blast some tunes. The Doobie Brothers, The Spinners, …”

“Fleetwood Mac,” says Pinkie, as if the music is playing. They name bands until Bryan finds a pause. With it, he ties together the past, present, and future.

“The endowment provides us another lasting connection to Rollins,” he says, “and that gives us a sense of peace.”

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6 Benefits of Donating Tangible Personal Property

Beth Fontes, Rollins’ executive director of major and planned giving, shares a few reasons why donating personal property—like the Chaces have done with their art collection—embodies the mutual goodness of giving.

1. Immediate Support: Organizations can use gifts like artwork, antiques, or collectibles or sell them to benefit the organization.

2. Tax Deductions: Donors may receive a charitable deduction based on fair market value.

3. Estate Planning Tool: You support a meaningful cause while reducing the size of your taxable estate.

4. Preservation of Legacy: Items may be displayed or archived, preserving your story.

5. Avoiding Capital Gains Tax: If the item has appreciated in value, donating it can help avoid capital gains taxes.

6. Creative Giving: Offers a unique way to contribute beyond cash or securities.