Published: December 07, 2023

A Legacy Pledge

Fraternity Bonds Inspire Couple to Give Back

By Holly Neumann | Illustration by Dan Williams

Debbie ’75 and Dan ’74 Ferrazza say their decision to join UT’s Legacy Society was inspired by pride in UT and gratitude for what the school did for them. But it’s clear that some positive peer pressure played a role, too.

The Ferrazzas already were longtime supporters of the University when Dan noticed a Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity brother’s name on the Legacy Society list in the UT Journal. Quickly, he realized that his old friend, Rod Piatt ’74, was the only Teke from their time on the roster.

“It was just him!” Dan said of Piatt, and so Dan called him up to talk about what fraternity brothers of a certain age talk about: pickleball, golf, travel and … planned giving.

“It’s been 50 years since we’ve been at Tampa,” Piatt said, “But we pick up the phone, and it’s like it was yesterday.

“As you get older, what do you think about?” he continued. “People think about family, charitable giving. You go back to what you’re affectionate about. We were there at the beginning of the glory years. How can you not love the story of The University of Tampa?”

Piatt told the Ferrazzas that including UT in their estate plan was easy, and Dan agreed, thinking, We can do that.

The Ferrazzas say UT is central to their life story. They met through Tau Kappa Epsilon, where Dan was a member and Debbie was a little sister, and they started dating in the summer of 1974, when they both were lifeguards at MacDill Air Force Base.

“We were friends, and then we started going places together like Disney World, and we said, ‘Hey, this is a lot better!’” Dan recalled. They married the day before Debbie’s graduation from UT in 1975.

The whirlwind of that week in April also included a move across the state for full-time jobs. Dan, with his new business degree, went into sales at Hunt-Wesson Foods. Debbie, a physical education major, worked as a P.E. teacher.

“And that was the start,” Dan said. “You know, the school gave us what we needed. It gave us a head start in life.”

Other opportunities followed. Eventually, Debbie held a decades-long career in commercial real estate. Dan moved into management, and in the 1990s he opened his own business representing brands for large corporations. He found his real calling with this business, which landed him on the Home Shopping Network and QVC in what he calls his “second career.” He was a guest expert, demonstrating products on thousands of shows.

“Everybody knows, even Debbie, that I didn't work for a living,” Dan said. “I loved it. No kidding. I just had a great time.”

The Ferrazzas, who live north of Tampa in Odessa, kept up their involvement in Tau Kappa Epsilon, attending the reunions held every three years to reconnect and reminisce about building homecoming floats; Teke dominance in the Spartan Spoofs and intramurals; toga parties; and the beautiful, nine-bedroom fraternity house in Hyde Park that had so many cars parked sideways to fit on the property that “it looked like a used car lot,” Dan said.

“Danny was our house mother,” Piatt said, remembering how Dan enforced the rules and kept things picked up around the place where 30 brothers lived. It’s a role he’s continued to play for the last 50 years.

“He’s been our glue,” Piatt said. The Tekes back then were also involved in charitable endeavors, including Toys for Tots, clothing drives and a blood drive, according to copies of The Moroccan from the 1970s. The Ferrazzas took that spirit of service to heart. Today, they support Tampa’s Metropolitan Ministries.

“We just think they're very special, the way they supply food throughout the year, not just for holidays,” Dan said. “But it’s also how they treat the people when they come in. There's a lot of respect and dignity, and we like that.”

The Ferrazzas’ support of UT through the Legacy Society, Debbie said, “feels like an extension of what we were already doing” since they’ve given steadily to UT for more than a quarter-century. It’s been important to the Ferrazzas to “give deserving students an opportunity like we had,” Debbie said.

Dan explained why: “We've always been very big on the University. We always talk about it. We're proud of it. As I look at it, having a college degree tells an employer that you've got the ability to learn more. So they hire you because you’re ready to go. And that’s what happened for us.”

In October, the Ferrazzas attended a TKE reunion in Tampa. It was a chance for them to reconnect and reminisce — and to set an example, like Piatt did for them.

“Our fraternity brothers are doing well,” Dan said. “Everybody's basically retired. They're working and traveling, doing everything they want to do. We want to inspire them to say, ‘You know what, you're right. I did well in life. Maybe I should give something back.’"

“I tell them, ‘Just put it in there. Put it in your will.’”

If you would like to learn more about the Legacy Society and planned giving, you can reach Schezy Barbas, assistant vice president of development and university relations, at (813) 258-7480 or sbarbas@ut.edu.