Hale & Cynthia Labore
Whittier leaves a lasting impression on students. Yet even after Poets set off from the Southern California campus, they, in turn, leave their own marks on the institution.
For Hale ’93 and Cynthia “Cindy” (Salac) LaBore ’92, that means giving back to the community that gave so much to them as Faithful Friends — a name drawn from Whittier’s proud history as a Quaker school and bestowed on its most loyal supporters who make annual gifts to the College.
“Once you get into that habit, it becomes a natural reflex,” Hale said. “You’re giving back for everything that you got out of it. We wouldn’t have found each other without Whittier. We wouldn’t be the individuals we are today without Whittier.”
Hale is the senior vice president of total rewards for Universal Music Group. The youngest of six, he was born and raised in San Diego and went to Whittier to play basketball.
Cindy grew up in nearby Rowland Heights and is an international exchange coordinator for high school students from around the world.
Raised by a single mother, Cindy was the first in her family to graduate from college. She was touched by the Quaker friendliness of the college’s women’s auxiliary association that helped her mother when Cindy attended, making the small campus feel even more like a family.
Both business majors, Hale and Cindy met in an anthropology and sociology course at Whittier called Peoples of the World & Intimate Relationships. They now reside in Riverside and faithfully attend Homecoming.
They give back to pay it forward, with gifts to the general fund as well as specific sports like basketball or baseball, or organizations like the Lancer Society, of which Hale is a member and was a scholarship recipient when he was a student, and the Ionian Society, which Cindy helped resurrect as a student.
“I’m just so grateful for Whittier College,” said Cindy. “It’s part of who I am.”
Laurie & John Peel
The blood of the Peel family runs purple and gold.
Laurie (Welsh) Peel ’84 MA ’86 P’10 P’14 wasn’t the first in her family to attend Whittier. Her aunt, Ellen Welsh Tufts ’41, met her husband, Bill Tufts ’39, on campus. Laurie’s husband, John, did not attend Whittier, but his mother and sister, Lori Eshilian ’76, did, and later on, so did the couple’s two daughters, Sarah Peel '10 and Melanie Peel '14.
John, a former CEO of an adoption and foster care agency, and Laurie, a retired speech therapist, are both Whittier High School graduates with strong ties to the local community.
In 1984, Laurie sang in the Los Angeles Olympics choir with her Poet peers. Now, she is a member of the Poet Council presidential advisory group, and she and Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management Ken Woods ’84 led fundraising efforts for their 40th Reunion, which took place during Homecoming.
Daughters Sarah and Melanie grew up hearing stories about the college and even attended preschool at The Broadoaks School, learning to swim in the very pools they would go on to compete in as swimming and water polo athletes.
Sarah now works as a special education teacher with Whittier Union High School District, while Melanie is a veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
John was named an honorary alum in 2017 and serves on the board of the Institute for Baseball Studies. For Laurie, serving others was a key tenet of her Whittier education. “It gave me the capacity to grow as a human being over my whole lifetime.”
In 2019, the family set up the Wonder Women Scholarship to celebrate the long legacy of women in their families who have attended Whittier. The scholarship supports rising seniors in good academic standing with an unmet financial need of $10,000 or more.
“I think if more people knew how good it feels to give, we could probably solve a lot of our issues in the world,” Laurie said. “It’s just beyond gratifying.”
John advises prospective donors not to be shy, as they can inspire a cascade of positive impact. “Whether you give $5 or $50,000, let your name be on it. Let your light shine.”