Newsletter | Issue 2
Lindley’s Legacy Lives On NEW STUDENT WELLNESS CENTER INSPIRES GENEROUS SUPPORT
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hose who knew Lindley Spaht Dodson, a pediatrician and member of the Washington and Lee University Class of 1999, describe her as a source of joy, comfort and inspiration. Now, thanks to an outpouring of support from the W&L community, her memory and legacy will continue to impact generations of students through the Lindley Center for Student Wellness. The center will serve as the new home for student health — both physical and mental — and is projected to open in the fall of 2025. The facility will be staffed with both counseling resources and health professionals to foster overall student well-being. The Lindley Center will be constructed on East Denny Circle, in a location convenient for both undergraduate and law students. Initially, the center was to be located within the new Williams School, which is currently under construction on West Washington Street. However, after further review of students’ needs, the university decided the project warranted a standalone building. The Spaht family expanded its lead gift to $4 million to support the new design. Since that time, extended members of both sides of the Spaht and Dodson families have contributed significant gifts to the project. For their 25th reunion in 2024, the Class of 1999, led by co-chairs Cory Birdsall and T. Blair, chose the Lindley Center as their class project, subsequently raising $1.4 million (as of June 20, 2024) to support the initiative. In 2021, the Class of 1996 contributed more than $500,000 to the center as part of their class’s commitment to student health and wellness during their 25th reunion year. Additionally, The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, based in Richmond, Virginia, contributed a $300,000 challenge grant to support the facility. Lindley was tragically killed in January 2021, while she was working at Children’s Medical Group in Austin, Texas, leaving behind her husband, Drew Dodson ’00, and three young children. For Drew, the Lindley Center project has been an important
LINDLEY SPAHT DODSON ’99
“THE ABILITY TO TELL LINDLEY’S STORY THROUGH THIS BUILDING HAS MEANT A GREAT DEAL TO ME AND OUR FAMILY.” DREW DODSON ’00