Read the story about Monique and ChristaPerhaps you are considering including a good cause in your will? Perhaps Ghent University is the good cause you are looking for! Whatever you leave to Ghent University, your legacy will go to support the cause you have chosen. Moreover, you can have a tailor-made legacy, aimed very specifically at your own interests or causes you care deeply about. Christa and Monique decided to do just this, since Ghent University is a cause that is very close to their hearts. And they have not regretted the decision for one second!
Read the story about Monique and Christa
Perhaps you are considering including a good cause in your will? Perhaps Ghent University is the good cause you are looking for! Whatever you leave to Ghent University, your legacy will go to support the cause you have chosen. Moreover, you can have a tailor-made legacy, aimed very specifically at your own interests or causes you care deeply about. Christa and Monique decided to do just this, since Ghent University is a cause that is very close to their hearts. And they have not regretted the decision for one second!
It’s more than just a gift
Christa Plaisier and Monique Christiaens have been together since 1975, sharing the highs and lows of life with each other, along with their passion for art and culture. They have travelled the world together. And along the way, after 45 years, they have ended up not only with some incredible stories but also an extraordinary book collection. They have chosen to donate this collection to Ghent University after their deaths, along with all their assets.
Christa and Monique had been toying with the idea of including a good cause in their will for a long time. They don’t have any children, and their nieces and nephews have all amassed comfortable savings already. And they do not wish to fall into the role of ‘fairy godmothers’. This is why they had their notary draw up a will a while ago. Above all, Christa and Monique feel it is important to be able to decide what happens to their assets.
MONIQUE “Everyone has their own interests, and so we don’t automatically have the same interests as our family. We really love to travel, and that is why we started to think about making a will. Imagine if something happened during one of our trips. We don’t want our assets to fall into the hands of people who have no affinity for them.”
CHRISTA “What we absolutely want to avoid is the situation whereby a moving van pulls up in front of the house and just takes all of our belongings away. Who knows where everything would end up.”
“Ghent University stands for everything that we believe in.”
Off the beaten track
It took them a long time to decide what good cause they wanted to support.
CHRISTA “For many years I worked in the Dermatology department in Ghent University Hospital. I saw the impact that academic research can have. When I got cancer a few years ago, I often heard people in the cancer department talking about how important it was to support cancer research.”
MONIQUE “It absolutely had to be an institution that we support one hundred percent. Ghent University’s vision matches our own beliefs perfectly. Just like the university, we also prefer to go off the beaten track. We believe that everyone has the right to think as they wish, and to be whoever they want to be. Ghent University has a broad-minded, critical approach, which is exactly how we see the world too.
Reassurance
In order to keep an open mind about life, Christa and Monique travel around the world. They always choose their destination based on an exhibition or an art project. And they have assembled a unique book collection. Whenever they go to an exhibition, they buy a catalogue and also some postcards. The fact that this will all go to Ghent University offers them reassurance. CHRISTA “Our books will help support teaching activities in the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. The financial part of our legacy will probably go to research on dermatology and cancer. That way, everything will end up well."
“Priceless collection” Hendrik Defoort, collection manager at the ‘Boekentoren’ library , is most impressed with how intact their collection is. Hendrik: “People offer us book donations almost every day. Of course Ghent University cannot accept everything, and so we have to carefully consider what we choose to take. The collection of Monique and Christa is very unique. They have a very complete set of exhibition catalogues from all over the world. This is extremely interesting, above all from an art history perspective. One of the books on their shelves is the catalogue from the 1986 exhibition ‘Chambre d’amis’. People opened up their living rooms as exhibition spaces in a number of locations throughout Ghent. At that time, it was a very unusual event, and once the exhibition was over, apparently Jan Hoet burned all of the unsold catalogues. That’s why one of these catalogues is worth so much. To be honest, their collection is priceless. It’s not a question of the market value, but of the value for research. Although they are not old, many of the catalogues are certainly historical artefacts.”
Would you like to read more testimonials such as that of Christa and Monique?
We advise you to prepare your will as carefully as possible, with proper reflection and expert advice.
Do you have questions, or maybe you would like to find out more about good causes at Ghent University? Please get in touch with Terry or Elien at the University Fund. You can contact us via email or by telephone.
