Brian Trinen ’90 and Nancy Gleason ’92, MES '04 met on a bus chartered by Evergreen’s boomerang team to attend a competition in the spring of 1990. They became great friends after college while living in Port Townsend, WA. Their romance took off when they reunited a couple of years later, and they married in 1998.
“Evergreen has been the single most influential component in getting me to where I enjoy being today,” said Nancy Gleason. “I am inspired to help anybody who feels like Evergreen is the right fit for them to get that education and experience.” Nancy returned to Evergreen for her Master of Environmental Studies degree and graduated in 2004. “I think what has made me able to outcompete for career advancement are the critical-thinking skills and broad perspectives on problem-solving that I learned at Evergreen,” said Nancy. She now works as a fish biologist on salmon recovery and ecosystem restoration in the Pacific Northwest.
Brian, who retired after nearly 25 years working in marketing and data analytics, credits Evergreen with helping him become a dedicated lifelong learner. “A lot of what I ended up doing in my career was outside of what I studied at Evergreen; it was things I learned later on my own,” he told us, “but I knew how to do that thanks to Evergreen, where I learned how to learn.”
The two have been regular contributors to The Evergreen State College. So, when they decided to make a will, it was an easy decision to include a gift to the College in their estate plan. Brian wanted to give future generations the gift of a more affordable education, which is what attracted him to Evergreen. “We need more people to be able to afford college and not graduate with debt that just swamps them for the rest of their lives,” he said.
A big reason Nancy is a “huge cheering fan of The Evergreen State College” is the alternative it offers to more conventional learning environments. “When I learned about Evergreen’s teaching style as a student, I felt like it was probably the only college in the world that would fit me,” Nancy shared. “It feels good to know I am doing something for future Greeners. I like the overall idea of our plan to help asmany students as possible and trust that whatever they want to do if they’re doing it at Evergreen, it’s going to be good.” Together, Nancy and Brian have created a legacy at Evergreen that will continue to open doors for Greeners far into the future.
