By Abbi Telander

It sounds like an advertisement: Fun-loving millennial couple seeks friends with shared interests and philanthropic values. Love for WashU a must.

Instead, this describes what Christine Donahue Dill, AB ’08, and her husband, Stanley “Myers” Dill, BS ’08, and Alison Curran Smith, AB ’08, and her husband, Kenneth “Buck” Smith Jr., AB ’09, have found through WashU’s William Greenleaf Eliot Society.

Then at an Eliot Society new members event at the Whittemore House on the Danforth Campus in December 2022, Christine recognized her undergraduate biology mentee, Buck, from across the room.

Christine Donahue Dill, AB ’08, and her husband, Stanley “Myers” Dill, BS ’08, and Alison Curran Smith, AB ’08, and her husband, Kenneth “Buck” Smith Jr., AB ’09
From left to right, friends Buck Smith, an orthopedic surgeon; Alison Smith, senior director of admissions at WashU Law; Christine Dill, a dermatology nurse practitioner; and Myers Dill, a partner at Husch Blackwell LLP, enjoy the opportunity to connect at events such as the Eliot Society reception on February 25 at The Ritz-Carlton in Clayton.

“He and Alison looked friendly, but I didn’t want to interrupt their conversation,” Christine recalls. “Myers said, ‘Isn’t that why we’re here? To talk with people?’ So we introduced ourselves and started chatting, and it went from there.”

Aside from Christine and Buck’s brief involvement in the biology mentorship program, the two couples had never crossed paths during their three overlapping years on campus, but they found themselves talking together for the entire event.

Christine Donahue Dill, AB ’08, and her husband, Stanley “Myers” Dill, BS ’08
Myers and Christine, seen here after Commencement 2008, lived just a few doors down from each other in Rubelmann Hall as first-year students. Myers says he noticed Christine on move-in day, but waited until the next day to introduce himself when he wasn’t “super sweaty and messy” from moving furniture in 95-degree heat.
Alison Curran Smith, AB ’08, and her husband, Kenneth “Buck” Smith Jr., AB ’09
Alison and Buck, pictured here during their junior year, met as first-year students at a WashU programming event at Spyglass on the Park, a now-closed bar and grille in the Central West End. Years later, they named their pontoon boat The Spyglass as an homage to the place where their friendship sparked.

When the event was over, they moved the party to Louie’s Wine Dive in Clayton and talked for another three hours.

Over two years later, the conversation is still going. The couples have taken doubles pickleball classes together, and their four young children (all between the ages of 4 and 7) are now playmates. Their families have even vacationed together in what they refer to as an “unofficial Eliot Society retreat” to the Lake of the Ozarks.

More than just a giving club

Making strong connections with people at the same stage of life has been an unexpected perk of becoming Eliot Society members. “The WashU community in St. Louis can seem so big,” Alison says. “The Eliot Society is a great way to find a smaller group within that community.”

“Being in the Eliot Society also allows you to remain connected to the university in a way that’s unlike any other giving organization,” Christine says. “And, of course, it feels good to contribute to something that you’re passionate about.”

That passion includes paying it forward to WashU students. For these friends, supporting Annual Fund priorities like the student experience, research, and scholarships is personal.

“I wouldn’t have been able to attend WashU without my scholarship,” says Buck, who was attracted to the intersection of a quality education and the opportunity to play varsity football. “I come from a very middle-class family, and it would have been impossible to afford WashU without that assistance. WashU helped mold me, increased my curiosity, and held me to a high standard. It changed my life.”

Alison agrees: “What made WashU so transformational for me was extracurriculars, like Greek life and the Catholic Student Center. When we think about what to support at WashU, we always remember to include the student experience. We trust that our money is funding the areas that are most important to us when we give to the Annual Fund as Eliot Society members.”

“Our giving priority is saying ‘yes,’” Myers says. “Supporting research and student access?  Yes. Helping more students have the opportunity to come to WashU like we did? Yes. That’s an unbelievable gift.”

The next generation of Bears

There are, of course, the inevitable jokes about their kids eventually becoming WashU grads. Regardless of where the younger Smiths and Dills end up attending college, their parents have been actively introducing them to WashU through the society’s programming. From Eliot Family Night at CityPark (now Energizer Park, home to St. Louis City SC) to the Great Forest Park Balloon Race celebrations on Tisch Park, both families have been intentional about making sure their kids feel like part of the community as well.

“We owe a lot to this place, and we care deeply about it,” Myers says. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if our kids could spend more time here, too?”

No matter what the future holds, WashU will be a special place for the Smith kids and the Dill kids, thanks to their parents’ commitment to building community, to giving back, and to taking a chance on making new friends.

The Smith and Dill kids
The Smith kids and the Dill kids at the Lake of the Ozarks on their families’ “unofficial Eliot Society retreat.”