“Philanthropy is a really unique thing,” says Tom Stevenson when we met recently on campus. “Some people just are much more inclined to give than others. And I’m not really sure why.”

 

It’s something he and his wife, Susan, have given a fair amount of thought to. When their son Henry ’18 was graduating, they offered a matching gift for donations given by the families of the graduates. It’s a tradition that they are familiar with from their experience with Lakefield College School—Tom is an alum—and one they thought that they’d like to establish here. It was a very successful campaign, with funds designated to benefit the Georgian Opportunity Fund, a financial aid initiative begun in 2017.

 

“We recognized then that there wasn’t enough financial aid for deserving students who would otherwise never experience a Georgian education,” says Tom. “But we see the benefit of having a broader cross-section of students from a wider socioeconomic background, because that benefits everyone.” Which is precisely what the Fund was conceived to do. As Headmaster Stephen Beatty ’86 reiterated recently, “the school is just better when we have more kids with different life experiences able to come here.”

 

The day the Stevensons stopped in was one of those early summer days, the kind where some people were walking up Howland in shorts, yet forcing the season a bit. Faculty were in the midst of their year-end professional development week and construction had closed the entire Senior School, making space a premium. So, we met in the Admissions office, which, of course, is no hardship. With the exception of the Chapel, the front of See House is home to some of the oldest spaces on campus, predating the foundation of the school by nearly a century. It’s where generations of Georgians had their admissions interviews.

 

Henry had his interview there as well, and it’s where they as a family formed some first impressions of the culture of the school. “It was just a feeling,” says Susan. “We noticed it within minutes when we came for the initial interview when Henry was applying. And it’s not just us. That’s a common comment when people come here, that this is something different.”

 

Perhaps it’s the size, but it’s not only that. Leadership, Tom acknowledges, plays an important role. “The teachers, the curriculum. Just the commitment of the whole staff. The investment, not just of the faculty, but of the staff. There’s just—it’s just a unique atmosphere here. ... A real feeling of kindness and warmth.”

 

Henry arrived in 2012, clearly talented, goal-directed, and athletically inclined, if a bit shy. He would have thrived maybe no matter where he went, though Tom also concedes that this school made a big difference in his life. It introduced Henry to rugby, for one, which he went on to play professionally, signing in 2020 with the Dallas Jackals. Growing to 6’5” while in high school, he became known as the Gentle Giant. Says Tom, “I was so excited as a parent, taking time off work, driving up to Aurora, watching his first game. I knew then Henry had found his passion.”

 

It also encouraged a sense of gratitude, an approach to life. “That’s such a huge focus of this school,” says Susan, “and I just feel that’s such a large part of making these kids kinder, nicer humans.” She thinks of how the community service initiatives extend that blanket, and the values that underwrite it, out into the world. “We did so many community service activities. One that stands out is the local church where the boys go on Fridays, making those meals and coming together. For me, even as a parent, I noticed when the day was over just how good you feel about yourself.”

 

I ask what they feel Henry, if asked, might recall first of his time here. Rugby is the obvious answer, but there are other things as well. “Mr. Ruscitti had a huge influence on Henry,” says Tom. “You know, it just takes one person to believe in you, and Mr. Ruscitti, I think, would be that person, the one who believed in Henry and was such a good role model to him.”

 

“I think just overall, in his six years here, it was the confidence he got, and his belief in himself, that he could do things well when he put his mind to it. That his teachers really believed in him and just let him find his way on his own path.”

 

Toward the end of our talk, Tom says that it’s difficult to articulate what makes the school so special, though perhaps he already had. It’s the friendships, the sense of belonging in a community of people dedicated to raising good boys and, in turn, giving something back to the world. “We just feel fortunate that we found it and that Henry was accepted and it worked out so well.”

 

“I’m not surprised by how well the endowment’s doing,” he says, “and how generous current and past parents are, because they recognize what’s special here.”

 

But, as he says, philanthropy is a unique thing. “What I’ve seen is that the people that give back are sometimes not the ones that came from a lot of wealth.” Rather, it’s the people who know firsthand what the opportunity to come to a school like this has meant in their lives, or their son’s lives.

 

Looking ahead, Tom mentions growth, though he couches that a bit. It’s not growing in enrollment numbers (and indeed there is no intention to increase the size of the student population) so much as maturing as a school. For him, that includes attracting “a really stellar cross-section of Canada or of Toronto proper,” both in the student body and in the faculty. Growth, for him, means continuing to build a diversity of thought and experience, building an increasingly stimulating student population founded in the core values that are already in place.

 

And that’s the reason they give. “When you believe in an institution like Susan and I do, it’s not a hard choice to make. I mean, it sounds succinct, or it sounds trite, but I think you have a lot of choices in the world of philanthropy—hospitals, schools—but this one really impacted Henry’s life for the better, so it just makes sense. It has the values that make a really good person, and that’s what’s needed in our world today. For these men to carry on and make a difference.”

 

True enough.