"We've had the pleasure of getting to know some brilliant young people at UC Santa Cruz. They've been like family to us," Janet says.

Janet is an accomplished artist and former board member of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum. Her husband Dan worked at UC Santa Cruz for 22 years before retiring in 2006. He was instrumental in building the Office of Physical Education, Recreation and Sports (OPERS) into what it is today. OPERS programs and facilities serve UC Santa Cruz students, staff, faculty and other members of the campus community.

Dan says that he and Janet chose to include OPERS in their will because "it's the right thing to do. Students and staff are working so hard to make the department successful. We want to keep this important part of the campus healthy because it teaches students self-efficacy: who they are, what they can handle, and to think, ‘I can get this done'. We made this gift to set a good example of what that means."