Sandy (Mayo) MacDonald鈥檚 35-year commitment to scholarships at 色虎视频.
By Ann Swardlick
When Sandy (Mayo) MacDonald 鈥�81 showed up to register for classes in fall of 1977, there were two lines: one for nursing students and one for everyone else.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 how we did it back then,鈥� laughs MacDonald. 鈥淲e stood in long lines on registration day, and the longest by far was for nursing. Now, Saint Joseph鈥檚 College is such a different place.鈥�
So true: Saint Joseph鈥檚 has grown from an on-campus enrollment of 400 in the mid-seventies to 1,000 today. Students choose from 40 majors, and they don鈥檛 line up in Xavier Hall to register. Nursing remains popular, but business, the sciences, and education are among many fast-growing programs. And MacDonald would no longer be one of just three women majoring in business.
Looking back, she appreciates the college that allowed her to become her own person.
鈥淚 was fortunate to have parents who were so supportive of my education,鈥� recalls MacDonald. 鈥淢y mother never got past 8th grade and my dad got his GED in order to become a police officer. He was determined to see his daughter go to college.鈥�
Her goal was to get a business education at a school that was small enough so she could blossom, but not so big that she could get lost. 鈥淔rom the moment I walked onto the Saint Joe鈥檚 campus, I felt good about it. People were wonderful.鈥�
What tipped the scales was financial aid. 鈥淢y father thought he had saved enough, but it wasn鈥檛 the case. Saint Joseph鈥檚 offered me financial aid鈥nd that was really important."
Four years later, she was on to her next challenge. Fresh out of college, MacDonald went to work at Casco Northern Bank in South Paris: the first female assistant branch manager.聽 鈥淚t was hard at first. I was young, female, and from away. Eventually, I became part of the community.鈥�
She thrived in the banking field, despite the rapid flux that characterized the industry in the eighties. From Casco Northern to Citibank to People鈥檚 Heritage (now TD Bank), she has had a long career helping financial organizations manage change.
MacDonald took a two-year break from banking to work in the corporate community service department at Central Maine Community College. Then, in 2010, Mechanics Savings Bank came knocking. Today, she鈥檚 a key member of the project management team working to align Mechanics Savings and Biddeford Savings under a new mutual holding company. As vice president of operations & projects, MacDonald is helping to drive the big changes necessary for success in the competitive banking landscape.
Since graduating in 1981, Sandy MacDonald has given back to Saint Joseph鈥檚 every year.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have gone to college if the scholarship money hadn鈥檛 been there,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o when I give to the College, I designate that it鈥檚 for academic scholarships. I feel it鈥檚 important to pay it forward. Every penny helps.鈥�
Generosity is a family commitment. MacDonald and her husband have set up a scholarship fund at Gray-New Gloucester High School in honor of their older son, Kevin, who died in 2000. Another scholarship at the Gray-New Gloucester Middle School supports summer camperships.
MacDonald is philosophical about the way Saint Joseph鈥檚 and its values have influenced her career and life: 鈥淭he critical thinking skills you are developing in college continue to mold you later in life. At Saint Joseph鈥檚, I learned to appreciate people, community, and different perspectives. It鈥檚 that human side鈥撯�揾aving the comfort to be able to talk to your professors and classmates, and be who you are.鈥�
