This spring, Betsy Bruce ’73 committed to establishing an endowed fund, the Bruce Family Scholarship Fund.

For the Bruce family, NMH has always been a family affair: Big brother Bob (nicknamed “Mouse”) came to Mount Hermon in the fall of 1961 and spent five years at the school. Betsy came in the fall of 1969, spending her first two years at Northfield and her final two at the newly coed Northfield Mount Hermon. John, the youngest, arrived in September 1971 and spent four years at NMH.

All three Bruce siblings excelled in athletics and went on to be inducted into the NMH Athletic Hall of Fame. John set records as a stand-out swimmer. Bob returned to NMH after graduation as a teacher and swim team coach. A self-described jock, Betsy swam and played field hockey and lacrosse.

Even before the 1972 passage of Title IX opened up athletic opportunities to girls, Betsy said, she had plenty of chances to play competitively and coach at NMH. Faculty such as Grace Robertson recognized Betsy’s athletic interest and encouraged her. When the schools went coed, Betsy managed the boys’ swim team, which included her younger brother, John. She even swam in a few boys’ meets.

Betsy’s busy schedule also included classes and singing in three choirs. “Time management — that was the best thing I learned at NMH,” she said.

Betsy first began thinking about her legacy during planning for the class of 1973’s 50th reunion. She was ready to focus on her financial planning and, without children of her own to consider, she realized that she had a number of options. “You can’t take it with you,” she said. “You might as well put it into something you believe in. And I believe in NMH.”

The Bruce family valued education, with both parents working to enable all four kids to go to prep school. (Betsy’s older sister, Nancy, attended a different private school.) When Betsy set up the fund, she consulted with her brothers. Initially, she considered naming the fund for their parents, before ultimately deciding to call it the Bruce Family Fund, which acknowledges the younger generation’s commitment. “It’s us now, and we can do something,” she explained.

The fund will allow future generations of students access to the kinds of experiences that Betsy and her siblings benefitted from. “NMH provides young people tons of opportunities to learn in all aspects: in the classroom, out of the classroom, in the dorm, on the playing field, in the pool, in the music hall, and in the woods,” she said. “I had a great opportunity to grow up at NMH. I want to provide that opportunity to others to have that same growth, to learn, to do something they might not have been able to otherwise.”