News Detail
Ansin family inspires with challenge
Former RE board chair Andrew (Andy) L. Ansin ’81 and his family have supported Ransom Everglades for more than a decade. When RE was building the current aquatic center, the Ansins stepped up. When the Raider statue was stolen, the family commissioned a new one. When Ransom Everglades set out to transform the upper school with a state-of-the-art facility, the Ansins extended their support immediately – and Andy Ansin assumed the role of chair of the board of trustees.
In 2020-21, with the school closing in on its REinventing Excellence campaign goal of $75 million, the Ansin family once again offered to help. Last December, the Ansin Foundation announced it would donate the final $5 million to get to the finish line as soon as RE hit $70 million in donations (gifts stood at $66 million at that time).
It is impossible to quantify the extent to which Andy Ansin and his family have elevated Ransom Everglades,” said Head of School Penny Townsend. “They have responded whenever asked, and often raised their hands before they were asked. Their loyalty and commitment are displayed most clearly in Andy’s work in recent years. He has served, he has inspired, and he has given. We are extremely grateful.”
When Andy Ansin announced the “Ansin Challenge” late last year, he described the $5 million pledge as an attempt “to put a bow on the herculean efforts that have gone into this campaign.” He credited the head of school; board chair Jeffrey Hicks ’84; former chairs Rudy Prio Touzet ’76, Eric Mendelson and Jeffrey Miller ’79 (former campaign co-chair); and campaign chair Constance Fernandez.
“We are hoping this year we will reach $70 million and be able to celebrate that the school has taken great steps forward,” he said. “And, of course, we want to continue this important work.”
Ansin, whose two-year term as board chair ended last summer, said he hopes the challenge will ignite more and deeper participation in annual giving at RE as well as the support of capital projects and the school’s endowment during a critical time. Ransom Everglades opened the Constance & Miguel Fernandez STEM Center last fall, and is working on plans to refurbish Ludington Hall while continuing to integrate the La Brisa property into the wider upper school campus.
Ansin noted that gifts to The Fund for RE – the school’s annual fund – count toward the REinventing Excellence campaign; the Ansin family’s hope is to conclude the campaign by the end of the 2020-21 school year.
The Ansins’ commitment to Ransom Everglades runs deep. Andy attended RE along with siblings James Ansin ’84 and Stephanie Ansin ’90; Andy’s daughters with wife Tatsiana, Sophie ’25, Helen ’26 and Alexandra ’27, are currently enrolled. The family patriarch, Edmund Ansin, died last summer after spearheading the family’s longtime support of Ransom Everglades. Ansin’s mother, Toby Lerner Ansin, served on the RE board; and the extended Ansin family contributed significantly to the Ansin Aquatic Center, Ansin Pool and Ansin Breezeway.
“Our kids are the third generation to be involved with the school,” Ansin said. “Our family appreciates how we have benefitted personally, and we take pride in the good deeds from the school to the community as a whole. We are impressed with how the school has adapted to the pandemic and raised the bar for education during this time.”
To make a gift to the The Fund for RE, or learn more about how to contribute to the REinventing Excellence campaign, contact Director of Advancement Melanie Hoffmann at mhoffmann@ransomeverglades.org or by calling 305 460 8820.
Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.