Thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Virginia (“Ginger”) Hitchings, Christendom College launched The Christendom Legacy Challenge, a new program designed to magnify the impact of estate gifts. How? For each new gift through a will or other estate plan that names Christendom as beneficiary, Hitchings’ Legacy Challenge fund will match up to 10% of the value of a future gift with an immediate gift to Christendom student financial aid. In effect, The Christendom Legacy Challenge will enable even more students to experience the best of a faithfully Catholic higher education today while helping to underwrite Christendom’s unique commitment to remain free of federal funding in the future.
Hitchings was nearly 70 years old when a dear friend first introduced her to Christendom through a campus event. Describing her discovery of an authentically Catholic college as “overwhelming,” she shared, “I have never seen such joy on a college campus before.”
This story comes from the latest issue of Instaurare Magazine, the official magazine of Christendom College. Read more from Instaurare here!
Calling it “the best-kept secret in town,” Hitchings recognized in “[Christendom’s] faithfulness to the Catholic Church, to Truth and to Catholic doctrine” an authentic response to our de-Christianized culture and a powerful ally in the current spiritual war.
Importantly, she recognized Christendom’s commitment to student services: “I am just so impressed at the guidance and mentoring Christendom offers to its students.”
After consideration, Hitchings resolved to make a positive impact on faithfully Catholic education. In her own words, “the idea behind a legacy challenge is to motivate people.” Noting that Planned Parenthood raised substantial funds through a similar bequest challenge, she countered, “We can do better. The Lord is on our side.”
Bill and Ginger Hitchings.
Given her experience that “Christendom is the most honest philanthropy,” Hitchings spoke confidently of her Legacy Challenge as “an extremely important” initiative that enables her money to have the kind of impact on authentically Catholic higher education she seeks. She concluded quietly, “I want a legacy for Bill that will stay focused on the Lord.”
Ginger’s late husband, William Hitchings, passed away in 2021. Bill was both an excellent Navy pilot and an honest and astute businessman.
After graduating from Annapolis in 1970, Bill was selected for the highly respected Naval Air Systems Command. He later completed numerous programs, including the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). With the end of the Vietnam War and Bill’s wish to be closer to his beloved, Ginger, and their three daughters, he began a successful career in commercial roofing in Virginia Beach.
From providing flight instruction to former Vietnam POWs to mentoring and coaching youth sports teams, the hallmark of Bill’s life was mentorship and guidance of others, with a particular care for the young. Hitchings recalls, “Bill loved kids … and gave [lots of time and effort] to his children and the children of the community.” In tribute to this selfless man, his funeral was packed with hundreds of people whom he mentored throughout his life.
With its commitment to the formation of the whole person and service to each student, Hitchings sees Christendom as the perfect place to honor Bill’s legacy through the Legacy Challenge.
Hitchings’ initiative is already having an impact. When learning of the Legacy Challenge, Martin and Carol Smith of Florida were inspired to double the size of a new charitable gift annuity. Attending both a Catholic grade school and an all-boys high school run by priests helped Smith “realize the importance of the Catholic education offered at Christendom … [which he calls] ‘The Few, the Proud’ of Catholic colleges.”
Chris and Tish McMahon of Virginia included Christendom among their trust beneficiaries. Inspired by the college’s fidelity to the Magisterium, McMahon explains, “Eight of our ten children have gone to Christendom and received a lot of financial aid…” He continued, “We saw each of our children who went to Christendom mature … spiritually and emotionally, and that is why we wanted to include Christendom in our trust.”
Learn more about The Christendom College Legacy Challenge by visiting giving.christendom.edu/legacy or by contacting John F. Ciskanik, Executive Director of Gift Planning, at ciskanik@christendom.edu or 434-907-3063.
Read more from Instaurare Magazine here.
Contributed by Isabella Reilly, Gift Planning Coordinator at Christendom College.