By Anne Gaughen

In 2021, Abbey Juknavorian ’24 and her parents, Susan and Richard Juknavorian P’24, already had their plane tickets to Chicago booked when Abbey realized something: She did not want to return to DePaul, the university where she had spent her freshman year learning remotely during the pandemic.

Instead, the Juknavorian family got to work trying to find a school that fit Abbey’s needs and dreams — closer to home and a small-school experience, with opportunities to merge her marketing and communications acumen with her love of fashion.

“As a parent, you want to do everything you can for your child,” Richard says. And with tight transfer deadlines looming, they had just two weeks to figure it out.

“The community at Lasell was so welcoming,” Susan says, recounting how the University scheduled campus tours and meetings with faculty and staff to give the family a sense of what Abbey’s college experience might be like. Abbey made her decision quickly, but everything solidified for her parents when they met with members of the Parents Council. They found a space where they could have their questions answered by a supportive social network without infringing on their daughter’s college experience, and, ultimately, they too discovered a community that felt like home.

For Susan, a reference and research librarian in Methuen, Massachusetts, and Richard, a healthcare/IT professional and host of the podcast Meeting You Where You’re At, community is vital. As leaders in the Parents Council, generous donors to the Lasell Fund, and engaged volunteers, they view their roles as a means of strengthening the Lasell community, which in turn supports their daughter and students past, present, and future.

“As parents, we always want our children to have as much as they possibly can and experience as much as they possibly can,” Richard says, explaining that while many initiatives of the Parents Council and University Advancement may not benefit Abbey directly — financial aid, for example — these activities support a stronger, more diverse vision of Lasell. “Susan and I are both of the belief that all boats rise.”

Susan and Richard hope that other parents seeking community will participate in the Parents Council, attend events, and join the Lasell parent webinars to listen and maybe share their experiences. They recall the kindness and support they received when Abbey was transferring and hope to provide the same reassurance for new Lasell parents.

“There’s a pay-it-forward cycle,” Richard says. Susan agrees: “I want to be able to lend a hand and make a difference.”