The Rev. W. (Will) H. Mebane Jr. ’06 MDiv first felt the calling to become an episcopal priest when he was 11 years old, but “spent 40 years putting it off” working in media, sports and development. But that sense that his life had a higher purpose remained, and at 50, Mebane began his studies at Yale Divinity School.

Now the rector of St. Barnabas’s Memorial Episcopal Church in Falmouth, Mass., on Cape Cod and a class agent, Mebane is unabashed in his efforts to raise funds for YDS, particularly efforts to reduce and eliminate student debt.  

“I have never been afraid to ask people for money,” Mebane says. “Our parents instilled in us a core principle that it’s better to give than to receive. When you give it will be returned to you a hundred-fold, as the good book says. That has been true for me, and it is why I have spent much of my career raising money for good causes.”

Mebane himself went into debt to attend YDS and is moved by efforts to make the school more affordable today.

“I love it when I read Notes from the Quad about how students today can attend and not have that financial burden,” Mebane says. “It warms me that others are giving, and I am grateful to be part of that legacy.”

Read more about Mebane’s commitment to fundraising, journey to the priesthood, and unique father-son graduation—he and his son Karreem Mebane ’06 MAR are part of a rare group of parent/child co-graduates.